What Does the Sky Hold?
by challengers1313
Summary: The fate of Ivalice once again lies in the hand of our heroes. But this time there is a new addition. A girl with links to both their past and their future. Takes place after Final Fantasy XII, but does not follow Revenant Wings. Balthier/OC
1. Chapter 1

"Ffamran, please don't look at me like that" the girl says. The look on Ffamran's face only intensifies. He is a boy in his late teens with dusty blonde hair that is cut short to keep it out of his eyes. He has on a simple white button up shirt and black pants. His face is classically handsome and looks almost aristocratic. But it is obvious that the boy is in pain. It is not written on his face, only in his eyes. And perhaps if the girl had not known him better then she knew herself, she would not have noticed. But she did know him that well, and it killed her to see him like this. The boy's eyes shift down, studying the stone road beneath his feet.

The two are standing outside of a large building. The sign on the door says Draklor Laboratories. The building goes up for many stories and is made of a reddish brown brick. It is an elaborate building with many decks and buttresses. The girl's eyes look up at the building, searching the many windows for an answer. It has been her second home for so many years. She remembers back to the adventures she had there with him. Being chased by the guards, finding the many secrets that it has to offer, she does not want to go. But no, she has to leave. They have disappeared and she has to find them.

A more resolute look appears on her face. Her green eyes flash with determination. Her dark brown hair that cascades down to the middle of her back is sitting still because there is no wind around them. It seems as if the whole city is holding its breath, waiting to see what will become of the young pair.

Ffamran's eyes leave the ground and hold her gaze once again. "Fara, I can't be here all alone" He says. It tears her up to see him like this. His usual smirk is missing from his face and is replaced with nothing, nothing at all. His face is so blank, but still his eyes betray his feelings. "You won't be here alone." Fara says. Trying to smile, but failing miserably. "You have your father and your brothers. I have to go find my parents. People do not just disappear without a reason. And if it was me who had disappeared they would not give up until they had found me."

Her parents were gone and she thinks that it might be the empire. Her parents have always been very vocal about their dislike of the empire. They were trying to return it to a republic like it was before House Solidor took the reigns of power centuries ago. She sincerely hopes it is not the empire, because if it is, then there will be little hope to return them to safety.

"Can you not just look for them here?" Ffamran's voice jolts her out of her musings. "You know that I cannot" she replies "I've tried and no one will give me any answers here. It's like they are all pretending that my parents never existed. I have to find them Ffamran." It had been a little more then a month since her parents had gone. She had woken up one morning, just like any other, but her parents were no where to be found. She had talked to countless guards and even a few judges, but no one seemed to know anything, or at least they pretended to not.

Her fathers name is Bertram Powers. He was a well built man in his prime, but he has aged. His hair is salt and pepper gray. His eyes are green, not bright, but a dark grey green. Like the sky above the ocean in the middle of a storm. Fara had gotten her fathers eyes. Her mothers name is Drina; it was Drina Rioan before she was married. It was from her mother that Fara got her hair. It was such a dark brown, that it almost looked black. But if the sun shined on it, her hair would look auburn. Ffamran had noticed long ago that if she stood with the sun behind her head, it seemed as though she had a fiery halo surrounding her head.

Fara had always been proud of her parents and the fact that they spoke their mind. She was the same way really, a strong sense of what she thought was right. Her family was rather wealthy; they were descended from a powerful political family. The Powers had always been known to be a proud group (sometimes too proud) and they always strove for justice above all else. Perhaps that was why their dislike for Archadia grew as the empire continued to become more and more ruthless, the emperor's power more and more absolute. They hated the judges the most, because they pretended that they strove for justice, when really they were just the emperor's lap dogs.

Her hand went to the pendant around her neck, as it always did when she thought about her parents. It was given to her by her mother on her thirteenth birthday. "Because it reminds me of your eyes" her mother had said. It had a long antique gold chain. At the bottom were three stones hanging off of the chain. The stones were on little gold strings that varied in length and dangled from the chain. One stone was grey, but one could see through it. The other was dark shiny stone and the final one was forest green. All of them were about the size of a pearl, and were roughly cut, as if someone had just plucked them off of the ground.

She only had two valuable possessions on her. She wanted it to be easy for her to get around, so she did not want to carry around much. The one was her necklace, and the other was a pair of swords. They had been her fathers, but she was taking them with her. He won't mind, she thought bitterly. They were not very large, perfect for her size. The blades were black and the hilt was also black, but it was very ornate. At the base of the blade small lines of black metal curved around each other and connecting to the end of the hilt. It almost looked delicate, but Fara knew it was not. It had been passed down in her family for generations and there was not a chip on it. She had the two swords sheathed on her back.

Ffamran noticed Fara's hand on her necklace. He knew that she was thinking about them and a defeated look came over his face. "You will not change your mind" he said softly. It was a statement not a question, but she still shook her head softly and some of her hair fell into her face.

They stood there for a few minutes, just looking at each other, Fara trying her best not to think about the friend she had to leave behind. They had been best friends for as long as either could remember, even though Ffamran was a few years older then Fara was. He had always been like a big brother to her. They would entertain each other at the boring dinners and dances that their respective families would drag them to. She had never imagined a time without him. Fara thought about how childish she had been before, thinking her life would always be the same. She thought she would always have her family and her friends. How naïve, to assume there would never be tragedy. Little did she know that tragedy would be one of the few constants in her life.

"Goodbye" she said. Then she turned and walked off to find an airship. She only looked back once, but wished she had not. The look on his face broke her heart.


	2. Chapter 2

A girl walked down the road to Rabanastre, a small bounce in her step. After all of her years of traveling, she had surprisingly never been to this great city and she was excited to finally get to see it. In the distance she saw the Bahamut Airship crashed into the ground and a small shiver went up her spine. She had heard about what had gone on in Dalmasca.

It is easy enough to learn about the news of Ivalice as a vagrant. In inns and on the road people are eager to talk to anyone, as it is an unusual occurrence that they actually have anyone to talk to. So many people talked to her, spilled their hearts to her, and she got very good at listening over the years. From all the bits and pieces she picked up she had learned how Basch Fon Ronsenburg had not murdered the King of Dalmasca, as everyone had believed. She learned about how Vayne was killed and now his brother Larsa was in control of Archadia. How Queen Ashe was now in power in Dalmasca. But with all that she had learned, she still was missing the information that she had left to search for in the first place. What had happened to her parents? They would be happy with the world as it is, she thought. Lord Larsa and Queen Ashe were kind and benevolent rulers. Fara wished that her parents could have seen the world as it was now; she knew that they would have been happy.

She had long ago given up the hope that they were still alive or even that she could find out what had happened to them. She probably should have gone back to Archades long ago and settled down, maybe gotten married and lived in peace. But wandering was in her blood now, her very core. The last thing she wanted to do was stay put. So she kept going and she loved it. She barely remembered what it was like to have a home. Anywhere could be her home now. But she still missed Ffamran. She often wondered what had happened to him. He had probably married a nice girl, maybe even had a son or daughter by now. The thought made her smile, but there was also an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach when she thought about him. She felt as though she had betrayed him, and she would never forget that.

She called herself Fara Ceire now. She thought it sounded nice enough and it was better if people had no way of connecting her with her past in Archades, just in case. She had cut her hair and now it was just below her chin with choppy layers. It was easier to fight with short hair, which was the reason she had cut it in the first place and she had kept it because she liked it so much. She had also become quite the warrior in her travels, out of necessity. There were always monsters or thieves on the roads and she could not just run away every time she saw one. Fighting the monsters was also how she earned her Gil to keep going.

Fara wore her usual outfit. A pair of dark green shorts and a black top that laced up the back. Over it she wore a dark grey coat with a hood that goes to just below her shorts. She has on boots that go up to her knees. She still had her swords and her necklace and wore them always.

Every step takes her closer to Rabanastre and after a few hours she reached the city gates. The doors are open, and two bangaa guards are standing on either side of the door. They looked at Fara with beady eyes, but eventually decided that she is not too much of a threat as they let her enter the city without a word. And so began a new chapter in her life.

Fara wandered around the city for a few hours. It was a full and vibrant city with many brightly dressed humes and bangaas. She loved the clarity and sheer excitement of it. There are even a few Viera walking around. Fara has always been mystified by them.

Eventually Fara entered a sundries shop. She needed to buy some food and also needed to find a place to stay for the night, or maybe even longer because she had decided she liked it in Rabanastre and planned to stay for a while. As she perused the shelves a large blue bangaa came up and tapped her on the shoulder. "Can I help you with anything" he asked in a rather nasally voice.

"Oh yes" she replies "I wanted to buy this" she indicated to the rather large pile of items in her arms "and also I am looking for a place to spend a few nights." The bangaa took the items out of her hands led her to a counter in the back of the store. "You picked a rather unfortunate night to try to find a place to stay" he said conversationally as he was pricing the items. Fara looked rather confused, so he elaborated. "The Queen Ashe is returning from a diplomatic trip to Archadia in a few days, so many people have come into the city in order to see her come back." Fara nodded her understanding.

"Is there no where I can stay?" She asked. She did not want to spend the night sleeping in an alley. She was used to sleeping on the hard ground, and a soft bed would be a nice change of pace.

The Bangaa seemed to be deep in thought then finally said, "I do have a room upstairs, but you would have to share it with some visitors that I have coming, as well as help around the shop while you are here."

Fara smiled and immediately said "Yes that will be wonderful. I am very grateful for your kindness." The Bangaa seemed to squirm a little bit as if embarrassed.

"Really it's nothing. My name is Migelo by the way" he said as he extended his hand. Fara shook it. "I'm Fara. Now what do you need help with?" She asked.

It had been a few hours Fara was beginning to regret agreeing to help Migelo. She had been working under the hot sun bringing boxes full of heavy items into the shop for Migelo. "It would have been better sleeping on the streets" she mumbled under her breath as she placed yet another box down.

"What was that?" called Migelo from behind her. She jumped and spun around. She had not intended for him to hear her. "Oh..uh nothing" she said smiling slightly.

"Oh okay" said Migelo suspiciously. "Well that's the last box, so when you're done with it you can go upstairs and take a shower. My visitors should be here soon and I don't think you want to look like that" he finished pointing at her sweaty face and body.

Fara made an indignant noise and said "Who are these people anyway?"

"Just some old friends" said Migelo smiling slightly "Now go clean up."

"Yes sir" Fara said making a small salute and bounded up the stairs. Migelo shook his head and his smile spread more. It was unusual for him to take such a liking to someone so fast, but there was something about this girl that he liked, a kind of spunk.

He continued to tidy up the store, but in a few minutes he heard the door open and in walked two young humes. "Penelo! Vaan!" he said and crushed them both with a big hug. A few muffled hellos could be heard. He eventually let them go and stood back to take a look at them. He had not seen for about a year and they had grown. He could still remember when they were street urchins helping him around his store, and now look at them.

Vaan had medium length light blonde hair. It stuck out randomly in various ways and looked rather spiky. He was wearing a white button up shirt underneath a black vest with silver buttons. He has on large black pants with silver armored boots that went up to his knees. Penelo has a little bit darker blonde hair that is braided into two braids that fall down her back. She had on a white short sleeve shirt with a brown leather vest over it that laced up the back. For pants she had rather puffy maroon Capri's and her feet were dark brown sandals that laced up her calves.

All three of them walked over to a table and sat down. Migelo offered them something to drink, but they were not thirsty and refused. It didn't take long for the three friends to get into a rhythm and it was like they had never been separated. They talked about everything and anything as they caught up. After about twenty minutes Fara had finished her shower and walked downstairs. She was surprised to see the two humes sitting and laughing with Migelo. She had expected them to show up later. She thought she probably looked like a wreck with her wet shaggy hair and clothes that desperately needed to be washed.

"Oh you must be Fara" said the girl warmly. Migelo had obviously explained about her when she was upstairs. "I'm Penelo the girl continued. And this is Vaan" she said pointing her thumb at the boy next to her.

"I can introduce myself" he said haughtily. The girl just rolled her eyes and stood up. She walked over to Fara and shook her hand. Fara chuckled at their exchange and said "Hello, I'm Fara Ceire." The two girls walked back over to the table. She was immediately put at ease by the warm and caring personality of the girl.

Fara just sat and listened as the three started to talk again. Most of it was old stories and inside jokes so Fara did not contribute much. But she was still enjoying the exchange. Eventually after a lull in the conversation Fara asked amiably "So what exactly is it that you two do?"

"We're Sky Pirates!" said Vaan proudly. Penelo just put her hand on her eyes and shook her head. "That isn't exactly the thing you tell someone when you first meet them Vaan." She said. "We don't want to scare her off."

Fara laughed and said "Don't worry. I don't scare easy."

Vaan just looked confused and said "Uh…right." He didn't think there was anything wrong with being a sky pirate and neither did Fara for that matter.


	3. Chapter 3

Fara and Vaan and Penelo had bonded quickly over the past few days. The trio was quite alike. All wanted adventure and all were young. But most importantly all three of them loved the freedom brought from travel.

The three were walking through a crowd, fighting their way to the front in order to see the Queen's caravan returning. Vaan and Penelo had told Fara that they were friends with Ashe and that they would be visiting her later that night and that Fara was welcome to join. Fara was surprised as it seemed a little odd that a pair of sky pirates and a queen were friends, but she did not ask any questions.

With Vaan at the front, Fara behind him and Penelo behind her it did not take them long to squirm their way to the front of the clump. When they got there they saw the beginning of the procession round the corner to the left.

The front was filled with probably about fifty soldiers walking stiffly in straight lines. Fara had never like seeing soldiers lined up like that, it always gave her a weird feeling in her stomach. She ignored that however and continued to look on. Behind the soldiers was an open carriage looking vehicle with a young woman sitting in the front. She was very pretty and Fara knew instantly that that was the queen. Some people just looked Regal. Fara looked as the procession passed, turned a corner and disappeared.

"Well that was fairly uneventful" Fara said as they started to walk back through the dispersing crowd to Migelo's shop. She was disappointed; with how many people had shown up in the city over the past few days and because their level of excitement had been so high, she had really expected quite a show. Vaan chuckled and said "The people of Dalmasca really love Ashe." It was as if he had read her mind.

"Right" replied Fara, a little unnerved.

"We'll just get a quick bite to eat and then we can go up to the palace." Penelo said.

"Does Queen Ashe know that we're coming" Fara questioned. Penelo and Vaan exchanged a heavy look and Vaan said "Well not exactly." Fara stopped dead and gave them a stern look. "I thought you were friends with her!" she exclaimed.

"We are" Penelo said quickly "It's just hard to get a hold of her now that she's the Queen." A slightly sad look came over her face. "We knew her before she was, and now that she's a Queen we don't get to talk to her that often." Fara nodded. "We understand though" Penelo added quickly, obviously not wanting Fara to think that they blamed Ashe for that her lack of communication. "We figured it was a good enough time to stop by and say hello" Vaan added.

"That makes sense… uh I guess" Fara said. She still did not understand how they knew the Queen, but knew better then to pry. It still made her nervous though, showing up at a palace unannounced. She really doubted that they would actually be able to see the queen.

After the trio had gotten something to eat they immediately left again and walked towards the castle. Fara could tell that Vaan and Penelo were excited about seeing Ashe. And Vaan and Penelo could tell that Fara was very nervous about seeing Ashe. She was a queen after all. Vaan placed his arm on Fara's shoulder and she jumped a little as she had been deep in thought and not paying attention. "Don't worry about Ashe" he said "She's only a little intimidating."

"Oh thanks" muttered Fara rolling her eyes and shaking Vaan's hand off of her shoulder. He smirked and the continued walking in silence. The silence was not broken until they reached the gate.

"I hope they let us in" Vaan said cheerily. The other two just rolled their eyes and continued on. The guard ahead said "What is your business at the Castle." He had a helmet over his head so his face was not seen and his voice was a little bit muffled. "We're here to see A..." But he cut off because Penelo had elbowed him in the ribs. She gave him a look and started talking in what she obviously hoped was aristocratic way "Our Uncle is in the Castle and we are here to see him." Fara and Vaan exchanged a look, but then nodded to confirm Penelo's story. The guard looked from one to other, but he believed their story because he moved aside and let them through.

As soon as they were out of earshot Vaan started to yell at Penelo. "What was that for!" he said angrily holding his side. Penelo gave him a stern look and said "People can't just go visit the Queen and we would never have been able to convince him that we knew her."

"You could have told us that earlier rather then just elbowing me" Vaan exclaimed.

"Well I thought it would have been obvious" Penelo stated, rolling her eyes "But I guess not." Fara was just laughing at the pair; honestly they were just like an old married couple. She said as much and both looked at her very indignantly, but said nothing in their defense. Fara followed them still chuckling around the palace, as they seemed to know where they were going. Eventually they stopped in front of a pair of large ornate doors. "This is the throne room" Penelo whispered to Fara. She nodded to indicate she understood and stood waiting for them to open the door, but they did not move. "Um are we going to go in?" Fara questioned the other two.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." Vaan said "I mean she's a Queen, what if the guards just shoot us before she can stop them."

Fara shot him a glare "And you are just thinking about this now!" she said.

"Oh we'll be fine" replied Penelo, though she looked more then a little worried. "Right" she muttered and pushed open the doors.

They were surprised to see that the room almost empty, no guards at all. It was a very large room with tall white columns that went down either side. The floor was tiled and had very ornate and colorful designs on it. The ceiling was the most breathtaking though as on it was a beautiful painting of what Fara thought was probably the Espers.

On the far side of the room were three people surrounding a table. The people looked up at the sound of the door opening. Then one of them, a girl who Fara recognized as Queen Ashe, began walking towards the door. "I thought I made it clear that no one was to disturb" Ashe began but stopped abruptly when she recognized Vaan and Penelo. "Vaan? Penelo?" one of the figures questioned at the table. He had an accent that Fara recognized to be Archadian. Her face paled when she realized it was Lord Larsa. The Lord Larsa, Emperor of Archadia. "Holy shit" she muttered under breath. "Larsa!" exclaimed Penelo and she ran over to him and gave him a big hug.

Fara wondered how Vaan and Penelo knew so many important people. Giving both of them an incredulous look as Vaan walked over and shook Larsa's hand. "It's good to see you again" Vaan said.

"And you friend" Larsa replied. Ashe greeted them as well. Fara felt very stupid as she just stood by the door gaping at them. There were two world leaders in there after all. Her attention shifted to the other figure. He looked like a Judge, and she immediately stiffened, she did not like judges, old habits die hard. The man removed his helmet revealing dirty blonde hair and a bit of scruff. He also had scar that went over his left eye. "Basch it's good to see you" said Vaan and he shook his hand as well. So that is Basch, thought Fara, relaxing as she knew him to be an honorable man.

Fara still just stood at the door awkwardly. After a few minutes of chattering Vaan and Penelo had told them why they were there, Vaan then glanced at Fara and said "Oh, I'm so sorry. This is Fara Ceire." Fara then walked over towards the group and muttered "um…hello."

"Any friend of Vaan and Penelo is a friend of ours" said Larsa. "Are you a sky pirate too?" he asked. Fara shot another incredulous look at Vaan and Penelo. Emperors and Queens knew that they were sky pirates? What an odd group. Fara thought. Then she said "Oh, no. We just met a few days ago." Larsa smiled warmly. Fara liked Larsa, he seemed very kind.

"What are you doing here?" asked Penelo looking at Larsa and Basch. Larsa's face seemed to fall and suddenly he looked so much older. "We have much to discuss" he said sadly.

Penelo, Vaan, and Fara waited, watching Larsa, who seemed to be deciding the best way to proceed. "I am sure that all of you know about espers. However, in order to portray my story most effectively I am going to start at the beginning." Larsa started looking at the three, as it seemed that Ashe and Basch had already heard this story. "Eons ago the occuria created the scions. It is said that there were twenty four in all. These twenty four were separated into the scions of light, and the scions of darkness. They were also separated into the elements, one light and one dark for each element. Not a soul, apart from the Occuria, knows the reason for the scions creation. After much time had passed Ultima, the high seraph, decided to rebel against the occuria and called together the other scions of darkness. They were not as strong as their creators however, and were cast down. The occuria bound their very existence to glyphs and cast them to the darkest reaches of Ivalice to be controlled by man as espers." At this point Larsa paused and looked at his audience. "Does all of this make sense?" he questioned.

"Yes of course" answered Vaan "But what does this have to do with you?"

"I will get there in due time" Larsa responded.

He then continued with his story "The question that you should be asking right now is what happened to the scions of light after all of this time. That of course I can not answer, but I believe it is an important one none the less. There have been strange happenings in Ivalice of late, assassinations, thefts, and other things of the like. I had not been paying much attention, as the pattern seemed random, until it clicked. All of these crimes have been connected to the Espers. I do not know if you know this, but recently both Ashe's and my own Espers were taken, the espers that your group had given us after the fall of my brother. Also, Dr. Gijs, the man who had taken over at Draklor Laboratories after the death of Cid. At the time of his death he was researching the scions and the occuria. And perhaps most important, an esper was recently seen that no one has seen before." Once again Larsa stopped talking, though this time it seemed as if he was done. "Do you think that the esper was one of the Scions of Light?" asked Penelo.

"It seems as though that would make the most sense, but we do not know for certain" Larsa answered. "I may be overreacting, but it is still of the utmost importance that we discover what all of these signs mean. This is why I returned with Ashe, in order to learn more about this threat and its implications."

"I was needed in Dalmasca, as I had been gone for too long, and Lord Larsa and I needed to continue our research into the subject" Ashe interjected.

"Right before you three came, we had decided that we were to send Captain Basch back to Archades to search Draklor Laboratories for any pertinent information. It seems as if fate is on our side today, as he could use all of the help he can get to search, and in walk you three. There are few we could trust with such a task" Larsa said.

"We would not ask it of you if we did not believe it was of the utmost importance" Ashe continued, "Would you be willing to help Ivalice one last time?"

However, before any of them could answer Basch spoke, "Perhaps now that these three are going to search I could stay with you Lord Larsa and continue doing my duty."

"No Basch, you are needed elsewhere and I am sure that I will be fine for the short time that you will be gone" Larsa answered quickly. Basch nodded stiffly, but Fara could tell he did not like leaving the young emperor or the queen on there own. Fara could tell that he was a very loyal man. It was Vaan who spoke next "Ya, of course me and Penelo will." Penelo nodded animatedly next to Vaan. It was obvious that they were excited for a new adventure.

Fara was taken off guard when everyone looked at her next, as she had not expected to be included in this mission. She just stood there with her mouth open trying to remember how to speak. How quickly her life had changed, one minute a bum wandering the corners of Ivalice, the next on a mission from both the Queen of Dalmasca and the Emperor of Archadia. "Well?" came the voice of an impatient Ashe.

"O..of course" said Fara, she sounded much more unsure then she meant. She definitely wanted to help she was still just processing all of this information. "Fara," said Penelo's kind voice, "If you don't want to come with us that's fine. We understand that you don't really have an allegiance to any of us."

"I want to come" said Fara, much more firmly this time. She smirked and continued "Like I would miss out on this kind of fun."


	4. Chapter 4

Fara was bursting with mixed up emotions. She was excited because she got to go on an Airship, which she always enjoyed thoroughly. She was happy because she really enjoyed the company of Vaan, Penelo and Basch. And finally she was nervous and scared because she had not been back to Archades since she had left so many years ago. Her head was spinning around and around from all of the different feelings mashed up inside of her.

Wanting to be distracted from all of this, she turned to Basch, who was sitting next to her, and asked "So how is it that all of you know each other?" A chuckle came from the pilot's seat and Vaan said "That is a very long story."

"I'm sure we have more then enough time, the ride to Archades is a very long one" said Penelo as she turned in her seat to face Basch and Fara. "Well, it started many years ago the night that Ashe's father was to sign a treaty between Dalmasca and Archades" began Basch. And they told Fara the whole story, each person telling the part that they knew best.

It was indeed a very long story and it took almost the whole ride to tell. By the end much more made sense to Fara. She had learned much about the events of Vayne's fall. But she still had many questions. Could really have gone so wrong? And this Balthier fellow, Dr. Cid's son, could it be Ffamran? But why would he change his name? Fara was thinking very hard about all she had learned and the others remained quiet for the rest of the ride. They were thinking about their pasts as well.

Finally they reached Archades and Vaan brought down the Galbana, which was the name of his and Penelo's airship. "Alright we're here" Penelo said brightly. The four walked out into the bright Archadian sun. A wave of nostalgia swept over Fara. Right there was where she had tripped and skinned her knees once and her father had carried her home. Over there was where she and Ffamran had hidden once from the guards after Ffamran had done something to make them angry.

She gazed all around her. The glistening buildings that seemed to reach to the sky were so foreign to her. With a jolt she realized that this was her home no longer. Perhaps she should have realized that after being gone for so long she would not be able to come back to everything being the same. Somewhere in her heart though, she had always hoped that if she wanted to, she could come back. Now she knew that was not true.

"Fara come on" yelled Penelo. Fara noticed then that the others were ahead of her and walking off towards Draklor laboratories. She quickly sped up and joined the others. They walked for about fifteen minutes and then entered a sky cab. "It's nice to not be in that armor" said Basch stretching his arms behind him. He had changed into less noticeable clothes before they left Dalmasca. He was now wearing a red vest buttoned up over a white shirt. His shorts are brown and his boots lace up and reach the bottom of his shorts. "It's a lot easier for me to recognize you now, I still miss the long hair though" said Penelo. The four of them continued to talk amiably until they reached their destination.

They got out of the cab and looked up at Draklor Laboratories. Fara was still reeling just from being in the city and looking at this building just increased the gnawing feeling in her stomach. She followed the others into the building.

"Dr. Cid's quarters should still be intact. Gijs spent most of his time looking through Dr. Cid's notes so he preserved almost all of them. Gijs was actually murdered in Dr. Cid's quarters. So we will start our search there" said Basch.

"How exactly was Dr. Gijs killed?" questioned Penelo.

"Poison. The cowards weapon." Basch replied, the animosity evident in his voice.

"Well, I guess we should get going." Said Vaan.

"Right" Fara replied and began to walk off.

"You know where to go?" asked Vaan surprised, following her.

"Oh, um yes" Fara said. She had forgotten that they did not know who she was. It got tiring always having to censor herself. She decided that she would tell them about her past, as they told her about theirs. But not now, perhaps that could be the story for the return trip to Rabanastre. "I'll explain later" she continued.

They just nodded and continued to follow her up the many floors. Dr. Cid's room was at the very top. She had there many times with Ffamran, watching his father do research. She still found it hard to believe that Dr. Cid had done all that he had. But she trusted her companions and knew that they spoke the truth.

They eventually reached the room and found it strewn with papers. There were papers on the table, on the counters surrounding the room, on chairs, on the floor. There was even a paper stuck to the ceiling, though Fara had no idea how this could have happened.

"This is going to be fun" said Fara sarcastically.

Basch chuckled and said "I knew it would be an arduous task, but I did not believe it would be quite this time consuming." Vaan groaned and walked over to the nearest stack of papers.

"Let's get started then. Anything about Espers or the Occuria keep" he stated. Everybody walked over to a pile and began to search.

"Ooh what about this…" came Penelo's voice a few minutes later "oh wait no, it's just about the dusk shard."

It continued like this for a few hours, and though they had found a few things mentioning the Occuria, they had found nothing valuable. Fara stood up and let out a huge yawn. She stretched her hands up to the ceiling and looked at her companions. "I'm going to go stretch my legs" she said. They did not even look at her, but Vaan let out a sort of grunt to indicate he heard.

She left the room and walked around the corridors. She eventually came to a dead end with a sort of tapestry hung on the wall. The tapestry looked familiar; it was red and blue with a picture of Archades painted on. With a jolt she remembered this was not a dead end. "Of course" she muttered to herself. There was a secret room behind the tapestry. Before she left Dr. Cid left all of his most important research in there. She walked up to the tapestry hoping that he still did keep important things here.

She pushed the tapestry aside and walked in. It looked as if the room had not been touched since she was last here. There were still the bookshelves filled with hundreds of books. The fireplace with the comfy black chair next to it was still there. This room was rather small, but a door led to another bigger one to the right she knew where all of the lab equipment was. She was about to walk into the other room to search form some helpful information, but decided that she wanted to look at some of the books instead

She always loved to sit in here with Ffamran; each of them with their nose in a book. They had both usually picked a book about far off lands and great adventures. She smiled remembering once when they had been sitting in here reading…

But her thoughts were cut off by the sound of a gun cocking behind her, and the feeling of a barrel being pressed to the back of her head. The cold steel sent shivers down her spine and cool voice said behind her "Tut tut now what do we have here? Remember what curiosity killed."


	5. Chapter 5

Fara stood there very still. She did not want her attacker to think that she was reaching for a weapon and blow her head off. The voice spoke again "Searching through belongings that are not yours. What could it be you are searching for?" Fara thought it was probably best if she did not tell this man about Larsa and Ashe, so she replied "None of your business."

"Ah, but it is definitely my business. Perhaps you wanted some information to sell? Up your reputation in Archades perhaps with a few new chops. Or maybe you were looking for treasure, if that is the case you were wasting your time" he was probing, trying to get Fara to answer his question. She said nothing and just stared at the books in front of her defiantly. He continued ignoring her stony silence. "Hmm…Are you here alone? Or are there other thieves rifling through the late Dr. Cid's papers with you?"

Thieves? Fara was starting to get angry now. How dare this man assume that she was here to steal. She was here on behalf of a Queen and an Emperor. What right did he have to accuse her of such things? He had no more right to be here then she did, probably less of a right as a matter of fact.

She had a nasty retort on the tip of her tongue when she realized that he was probably trying to get a rise out of her so that she would lose her cool and let something slip. So instead she swallowed her words and continued to stare at the books.

"If there are others around I will find them" came a voice, but it was not the man's voice. This was most definitely a woman, and she had a peculiar accent. Fara could not quite place it, though she was sure she had heard it before. She heard footsteps quickly leave the room and echo down the hallway outside.

"Ah so now we are alone," the man was speaking again, "You are lucky I am curious about your purpose here or I might have already pulled the trigger."

"Do not forget what curiosity killed" Fara muttered back, she expected for the man to get angry, but instead he let out a loud laugh.

"Very true my dear" he said, still chuckling lightly.

Fara felt like he was about to say something else, but at that time they heard multiple pairs of feet echoing down the corridor. Fara breathed a sigh of relief; she knew that her friends would come. The footsteps stopped and she knew they were inside the room, even if she couldn't see them.

Fara was confused though when she heard the woman's voice again. Had her friends been hurt? "Lower your gun." Fara immediately felt the gun lower off the back of her head. She quickly spun around and was surprised to see that Basch, Vaan, and Penelo were there. Even more surprising, they were standing next to a viera. The viera was very tall and had silver hair that was put into a pony tail. She had on a black leotard that wrapped around her legs and arms as well. She also had a large bow on her back. Fara realized that this must be Fran, and if that is Fran then…

Her eyes shifted to the man in front of her. He had short dirty blonde hair and a gold ornate vest over a long sleeve white button up shirt. He had on rather tight dark pants that extended all the way to his shoes of the same color. He also had on bright rings and earrings.

It was him. She was sure of it. He had grown up much since she had last seen him. His body had filled out and his face had become even more handsome. How long had it been? Eight, Nine years she was afraid he would not recognize her, but her fears were unfounded.

"Fara?" he said questioningly. His eyes searched her face. Fara smiled widely.

"Wait" Vaan said looking between the two of you, "You know each other?" Fara tore her eyes off of Ffamran and looked at him. She nodded. Fran seemed to be looking at Fara very interestedly.

"We knew each other a very long time ago" Ffamran said quietly.

"Ffam... er Balthier and I knew each other as children" Fara continued for him. "Perhaps now would be a good time to tell you more about my past" she said. "My real name is Fara Powers and I was born in Archades." She then continued to tell them quickly about her youth and her parent's disappearance. "I left to search for them shortly after they disappeared and have been traveling Ivalice since." Fara glanced at Balthier, pain seemed to flash across his face, but only for a second, and she thought she might have imagined it.

Basch then spoke "I was with Larsa and Ashe when we ran into these three and were sent here to search for some answers regarding the espers."

Balthier looked at Basch and said "Is it that trouble is once again afoot in Ivalice? I suppose it was only a matter of time."

"It seems to be that way, though we do hope that it is not the case" Basch said.

"Was it espers you said? Perhaps I can help you find what you are searching for" Balthier said and walked into the next room. The others followed him and watched as he rifled through a file of papers.

"Ah here it is" he said as he brandished a paper in front of him. "A paper on the 12 espers of light."

"This could be helpful. Thank you Balthier" said Basch.

"Perhaps I could be even more help. Fran and I might have seen one of these espers." Balthier replied.

"Where?" Penelo gasped.

"Flying over the Cerobi Steppe we were, when a large entity attached itself to the Strahl." Fran said.

"We were barely able to get away on the small escape ship we have onboard before she was pulled down and crashed into the earth" Balthier continued with a tinge of sadness in his voice "Before we got away though I looked and saw what was unmistakably an Esper, though not one I had ever lain my eyes on before."

"The Strahl, Was it lost?" Vaan asked, the panic clear in his voice.

"We do not believe so" Fran said "From what we could see, she was not damaged beyond repair. We came here to look for the same information as all of you it seems. Then we were to head back to the Strahl to try to repair her."

"We did not want to go back blindly, incase the esper was still around." Balthier explained.

"Look at this" Basch interrupted. He had not been listening but reading the paper that Balthier had found. "It seems that Venat believed that the Occuria were to one day bind the espers of light into glyphs as well, to be a reward for a being that helped them achieve their goals."

"Could that be it perhaps? The Occuria are once again trying to control Ivalice as they did before?" Balthier mused.

"I do not know. But I believe that I should return with this to Ashe and Larsa at once." Basch replied.

"Maybe we" Penelo said, indicating at herself, Vaan, and Fara, "could go with Balthier and Fran to look for this esper."

"That would mean that we would not have to walk back to the Cerobi Steppe, I assume you have not yet destroyed your ship already Vaan?" Balthier asked.

"Hey, of course not" Vaan replied indignantly.

"Very well. It is decided. I will head back and bring this to Larsa, while you three will find out what you can about the esper that Balthier and Fran witnessed." Basch said with a tone of finality.

Fara was not sure she wanted to do this, but it seemed that she did have a choice. She was afraid of what Ffamran would be like around her. Did he hate her for leaving? Her mind remembered what his face was like when she left, and she felt that he probably was not too fond of her.


	6. Chapter 6

Once again Fara was on the Galbana. It was much quieter this ride. No one spoke very much. Vaan and Penelo were in the two front seats. Fran was seated to the right of her, and Ffamran was behind her. She could feel him staring at the back of her head. She turned her head to glance at him. He gave her his trademark smirk and turned to look out the window. A glowing feeling grew in her stomach at the sight. She had forgotten how much she missed that look.

It was Fran's voice that finally broke the silence. "It was right around here that we were first attacked. It cannot be far until we reach the Strahl." They rode for about another five minutes and Penelo exclaimed "There it is!"

It seemed that the Strahl had nosedived into a small hill. One of its wings had been bent in the wrong direction. It was covered in a layer of the fresh earth that exploded from the ground on impact.

"Um, are you sure that it is fixable?" asked Penelo tentatively.

"Well we had not expected it to be quite so damaged. But I have confidence in Fran's and my ability." Balthier said lightly. Fran gave him a look that said very clearly she was not sure it was fixable, but Balthier ignored it. Vaan set down the Galbana not far from the Strahl on some level ground.

Everyone exited the ship into the blinding sunlight. Fara shielded her eyes, until they were used to the light. She looked around her. She had been to the Cerobi Steppe a few times before and always thought it was rather pretty here. She took in a large breath of fresh air and followed the others over to the Strahl.

She could not help but gasp when she saw it, the ship looked even worse close up. Large chunks of the hull were missing. It looked as if something had torn them off. The wing definitely should not have been facing that way, and most of the front of the ship had been buried into the earth.

Ffamran groaned next to her as he surveyed his broken airship. He had his fingers over his eyes.

"You know, you not looking will not make it fix itself" Fara said to him lightly. He took his fingers away from his eyes and looked at her. He opened his mouth to say something, but Fran interrupted him.

"You were right Balthier, it is fixable."

Balthier seemed to trust her as after she said that he seemed happier.

Fara's mind then turned to the other reason they were here. "It the paper we found at Draklor is correct, then someone must have sent the esper after you" She said.

"That's right, if it was a light esper, then it must have been sealed to a glyph." Vaan said. Fara nodded then continued "Perhaps we should go to the Port of Balfonheim and ask if any strange people have been passing through."

"It's a good a place as any to get started" Penelo agreed.

"Perhaps it can wait until after we have taken stock of the ship? Then one of us can come with you to pick up the parts that will be needed to repair her." Fran asked.

"Yeah of course. It looks like you're going to need all the help you can get" Vaan said as he eyed the ship skeptically.

And with that Balthier, Fran, Penelo, and Vaan began to look around the ship for what may be needed. Fara felt very useless, as she did not know much about airships, and was of no help at all. She just sat and watched as the four of them ran around taking stock. Every once in a while one of them would call her over and ask her to hold something or bring them over a tool of some sort. She felt mildly like a dog, fetching everything for them, but at least she was being helpful.

She watched as Ffamran was taking apart a piece of the engine. His brows were furrowed and he was very focused on his task. "Fara" came Vaan's voice, "will you grab me that wrench and bring it over here?" Her eyes left Ffamran and went to Vaan. He was pointing towards a wrench next to her. "Ya of course" she replied and brought it over to him. "Thanks" Vaan said when she handed him the wrench.

She was about to walk away when Vaan continued "Were you really close with him?" She looked at him confused for a second, when she realized he must be talking about Ffamran. "Ya" she said glancing over at him "Ffam.. er Balthier was like my older brother." She really had to get used to calling him Balthier.

"It's weird" Vaan said "I've never really seen him like this." Fara gave Vaan a questioning look so he explained "It seems like you really sent him for a loop." A loop? Thought Fara, he seemed very cool and collected to her. But maybe she didn't really know him anymore. No, she definitely didn't know him anymore. She looked at Ffamran, uh Balthier, again.

"He doesn't talk about his past very much" Vaan said. "We only really found out about Cid because of necessity."

Fran walked over to the pair and said "It seems that we know what is needed to repair the Strahl. I will go with you two to pick up the parts and Penelo and Balthier will remain here to continue working on the ship."

"Alright" Vaan agreed. He wiped some of the sweat off his head on the sleeve of his white shirt. The three of them walked off in the direction of Balfonheim Port.

It took about two hours to reach the port, but Fara did not mind in the slightest. It felt like she was back wandering again. She had always loved walking. Vaan however seemed to have the exact opposite feeling. He kept asking how much longer, much to the chagrin of both Fran and Fara. And when they finally did reach the Port he literally jumped for joy. Fran and Fara both just rolled their eyes at him as they entered into the city.

"I will go and get the parts." Fran said, stopping and turning to the two of them. Fara nodded and replied, "We will go look in the pubs and inns for news of suspicious characters."

They split to go their separate ways and Fara and Vaan stopped into the first bar they found. The barkeep welcomed them and asked "What can I get for you?" They both sat down at the bar. "Just water for me" Fara said.

"I'll have the same" Vaan answered. When they got their water Vaan drank the whole thing in one gulp and asked for another. The second glass he got he sipped much slower. "Oh come one" Fara looked at him "It wasn't that bad of a walk."

"Well excuse me." Vaan replied rolling his eyes "Not all of us have walked everywhere our whole lives. I am a sky pirate and belong in the skies." Fara just laughed at him and turned to the Barkeep. The man was probably in his 50's. He looked like he had once been very strong, but had lost it over the years. He was bald and had a large grey handlebar mustache.

"We were wondering if any suspicious characters had come through Balfonheim lately" she asked him.

"You're going to have to be a little bit more specific then that young lady. Suspicious is the only type of people that come through here." He answered chortling. Fara looked at Vaan for help. He shrugged his shoulders and looked back at the barkeep.

"Well if you too come up with anything more specific let me now and I'll see if I can help" the man said, then he walked over to some other customers.

"Maybe we should have thought this through a little bit more" Fara said dispassionately. They honestly had no idea what they were looking for. They searched all afternoon, but could not find any information. They were not surprised though, how were they supposed to find anything if they did not even know what they were looking for?

Exhausted and a little frustrated, Vaan said he was going to go try to find Fran and would meet Fara at the entrance to the city. Fara said that she would try one last place and meet him soon.

Before she even got to next bar however, she heard someone calling her name from a dark alley between two old buildings. She debated in her head whether or not she should see who it was. Going into a dark alley was probably not a very good idea, but she trusted in her ability to deal with whatever shady character could be in there. And she was very curious.

She stepped into the blackness and barely made out the figure of a man in a dark cloak. His face was covered. He spoke in an urgent tone "Fara, you must listen to me. Stop what you are doing. What you find will not be what you wish to find. You should give this up and find a home to stay in. You have wondered long enough." And with those cryptic words he fled to the other side of the alley and was gone in an instant.


	7. Chapter 7

Fara wandered back to the entrance to meet Fran and Vaan. She was fairly confused because of the mysterious man's ominous warning. Stop what she was doing? She was just asking a few questions. Clearly there was something dangerous going on and she would get to the bottom of it.

Vaan and Fran were waiting patiently for Fara at the entrance.

"It is late, but we can still return to the Strahl tonight. I have gotten all that I can here to fix her." Fran said and she started to walk away pulling a large cart full of miscellaneous ship parts. Fara and Vaan walked behind her and Fara told them both the story of the strange man.

"Well we're clearly onto something," Vaan mused, "Too bad we don't know what it is really."

"There is again trouble afoot in Ivalice. I had hoped that would not happen again in any of our lifetimes" Fran said.

"There's always something" Fara replied.

They walked in silence the rest of the way to the Strahl, all lost in their own thoughts.

As they approached they saw Balthier and Penelo sitting around a fire chatting. When they were within earshot they said hello and walked over the fire.

"We can do no more tonight because of the dark" Balthier explained.

"I have the parts that are needed" Fran said.

"And we got zero info," Vaan said, "except Fara met some guy who said that we should stop looking."

"Well technically he only said I should stop looking," Fara explained, "it seems the rest of you are fine to keep exploring this new threat." She then told the whole story to Balthier and Penelo.

Everyone stayed up for a while discussing whatever came into their minds. Eventually everyone had gone to bed except for Balthier and Fara.

"I can't believe after all these years that I found you again" Fara said smiling at him.

"Yes it would be hard to find someone if you never looked for them. Or even returned back to your home" Balthier replied drolly.

Fara's smile faltered and she looked very tired all of a sudden. "I'm sorry I never came back. After a while I knew I would never find them, but I just couldn't return home. There was nothing there for me anymore. I felt more at ease on the road then I ever did there. I met so many interesting people and saw a million amazing sites" she explained.

"Nothing there for you, I see" Balthier said rather coldly.

"Well I mean except for you of course" Fara countered quickly. She did miss him of course; she just thought it would have been obvious to him. "But I was a little bit afraid to see you" she confessed. Balthier raised an eyebrow at her waiting for her to continue. "I was afraid that I would come back and you would be different. Like maybe you had changed and become what we had always hated. One of those robots doing whatever the empire told them to, I'm glad that you didn't. That would have killed me." Fara tried to explain what she meant to Balthier, but from the incredulous look on his face it was clear that he did not understand.

"I was afraid to see you because I didn't want you to see me and realize that you didn't care about me anymore. To look at me and see that I had changed and not like what you saw. I wouldn't have blamed you though, it had been so long." Fara looked at Balthier and smiled sadly. "We were close, but if feels like a different lifetime."

Balthier laughed softly and said "I had forgotten how you always seem to over think the tiniest things."

"Maybe" Fara laughed, "Well I am going to go to sleep. We've got a lot to do tomorrow." She got up and walked up to the ship, so she didn't hear what Balthier said next.

"Besides, you are a fool to think that I could ever stop caring about you."


	8. Chapter 8

Fara straightened up. Her back ached from crouching in tight spots in the Strahl all day. She was sweaty and covered in engine grease. Her jacket lay discarded on the ground outside, but she still felt like she was melting. At least she was learning a lot about airships. They had been working on the ship for 5 days now. Everyone assured her that they were almost finished, hopefully at the end of this day they would be able to get the Strahl into the air. The plan was to get the Strahl into the air and then use Vaan's ship to tow it back to Rabanastre, where they would be able to finish repairing it to its full ability.

"Taking a break are we?" A cool voice came from behind Fara. She turned around and saw Balthier leaning against the side of the ship. She walked up to him and smiled.

"You know I've been working hard" Fara cooed. Balthier had taken off his vest and his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, but aside from that he looked as clean and collected as he always did.

"How do you do it?" Fara asked disbelievingly.

"You will have to be more specific then that I'm afraid" Balthier replied.

"You've been working on this dirty ship for days and it barely looks like you've lifted a finger. I look like I've been through a mine field." Fara explained.

"No self respecting leading man can walk around looking shabby" Balthier said "And I resent that you called my ship dirty."

Fara just laughed.

"I believe that you are the dirty one" Balthier said. He lifted a hand, reached up to Fara's face and wiped away a grease smudge with his thumb. His hand lingered on her cheek for a second, before he removed it quickly. He cleared his throat and wiped his hand with the handkerchief he kept in his pocket.

"The reason I came in here was to inform you that we are ready to tow her back to Rabanastre" Balthier said, turned around and walked away. Fara stared as he walked away up into the ship.

Balthier and Fran sat inside of the Strahl in the front seats and Fara sat behind them. Vaan and Penelo were in the other airship already in the air waiting for the Strahl to become airborne.

Balthier readied his ship and said "Let us hope the fates smile on us today."

"When have they ever" Fara replied smirking. Balthier turned around and gave Fara a scandalous look. He turned back around took a deep breath and started the Strahl. She roared to life with only one hiccup and Balthier guided her into the air.

"Lady Luck is on our side" Fran said smiling at Fara.

It took what seemed like forever, but they finally reached Rabanastre and found Basch waiting for them at the dock.

"I heard that the Strahl was returning. Though I thought she might be in better shape. You guys have been gone for days and this is the best you could do?" Basch jokingly asked.

"Do not push me" Balthier replied smiling.

"Come, you are expected at the palace" Basch said and they all followed him up to the castle.

When they walked into the throne room they were greeted warmly by Ashe and Larsa. There was also a new face that Fara did not recognize. He came up to her quickly and introduced himself.

"You must be Fara. I have heard about you, though no one mentioned your astonishing beauty" he said and reached out took her hand, and kissed it. Balthier and Basch both cleared their throats at the same time. "And I am Al-Cid" the man finished glancing at Basch and Balthier with a look that said they were spoiling his fun.

"So what have you discovered?" Ashe asked. Vaan and Fara looked at each other and said "Nothing" at the same time.

"I am afraid it is the same on our end" Larsa sighed.

"Well what's the plan then?" Penelo asked.

"I'm afraid all we can do it wait" Ashe replied "We will continue to act as if nothing is wrong. Our people have already suffered too much in the past few years. There is no reason to alarm them yet. We will watch and wait for them to make a mistake."

"So that's it? We wait. What if the next thing they do is kill a lot of innocent people? We can't just sit here" Fara asked angrily.

"Fara we can not fight a shadow. We must wait until they show their true form" Balthier replied placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She looked at him searching his face to see if he meant what he was saying. She seemed to be satisfied because she nodded curtly and said "Fine we wait."


	9. Chapter 9

Fara quickly learned exactly what waiting and trying to find new information entailed, lots of small talk. Every day was an endless parade of talking to people to see if they had anything to hide, and if they were hiding something, she had to find out if that something was relevant. She had talked to all types of people, children who lived on the streets, old men, the rich and powerful, even that girl on the corner who sold flowers. They had learned very little new information, but had confirmed some of their original suspicions. There was something bad going on, the espers of light were connected, and whoever was doing this was very well connected and extremely powerful. There had been a few new occurrences. A sighting of an unrecognized esper near the Feywood, a government official in Rozarria was found murdered in his home, and there were whispers in the underground of a shadowy group known only as the Peaks.

Aside from that scant information they had not really gotten anywhere. Fara had been staying in the castle for three weeks now. She had gotten even closer with her new friends. It was almost like she had a family again. It had been so long since she felt at home with other people. She had been on her own for so long that she had forgotten what it was like to be around the same people for so long. Sure she had made friends on the road, a few she had been with for a while, but this was different. These were people that she could trust, she would die for them. This thought put a warm feeling in her stomach. She certainly could get by on her own, but that did not mean that she wanted to be alone all the time.

At the moment she was standing on the balcony outside of her room. She had not stayed anywhere so grand since she had left home. Her bed was large and soft and she had her own private bathroom, complete with the biggest bath tub she had ever seen. She was about to get in to get ready for the ball that was going to be thrown tonight. Ashe and Larsa thought it would be a great idea to throw one to try to get more information. Fara and the rest were to get in their finest and flatter the privileged that were sure to come to see if they knew anything. Fara sighed heavily. She had never thought that she would be trying to save the world, but in all the stories about heroics there had been only battle and glory. Not sucking up to the spoiled elite.

She walked into the bathroom and turned on the water, waiting for the tub to fill. She heard a knock at the door. She walked up to it and opened the door to find Basch waiting on the other side. She smiled and saw that he had a beautiful dress in his hands.

"Basch I bet you'll look absolutely smashing in that" she said pointing at the dress. He chuckled and handed her the dress. It was a sea green with dark grey accents. It looked like it would go to just about below her knees. It was sleeveless with v neck in the front and an intricate lace pattern on the back going down to the waist. "This is for you. One of Ashe's servants picked it up for you. We thought you might not have anything" Basch explained. "How very kind of you to assume that I wouldn't have anything nice enough. If this wasn't such an exquisite dress I might be upset" she said teasingly "Actually that's a lie. I don't care at all" she laughed. Basch smiled and left, letting her get ready.

By this time the bath was full. She stepped in gratefully. The warm water steadied her nerves. It was a little ridiculous that she was nervous for tonight, but it had been a long time since she had been to a ball. The last time was when she was back in Archades with Balthier, or Ffamran as he was known then. She still had trouble calling him Balthier sometimes. She would have the name Ffamran on the tip of her tongue and have to stop herself. The only reason that she was able to call him Balthier at all was that he seemed like a different person then the one she knew. He had always been suave and contained, but he had taken it to a new level. It seemed as though nothing affected him at all. It worried her a little, but she also thought it could maybe be because she could not read him the way that she used to be able to.

At the last ball they had gone to they had gotten into trouble when Fara and Balthier had tricked another girl at the ball. This girl had been bothering Fara for a while, just being snooty and stuck up in general. She also happened to have a thing for Balthier, so they tricked her into thinking that Balthier would meet her on the roof, and locked her up there. Her rather important father did not take too kindly to this and tried to get Fara and Balthier arrested. They had fled to the safety of Draklor and laughed about it all night.

She finally got out of her bath and slipped into the dress. She got ready and finally looked at herself in the mirror. The dress really was beautiful and she felt like she looked rather good in it. She breathed deeply and walked out into the hallway. She saw Vaan and Penelo standing and chatting at the end of the hall. She walked over to them and said hello.

"My, don't you guys look sharp" Fara said grinning at them. They both did look very good. Vaan was dressed in white slacks and dark blue dress shirt and Penelo had on a light blue dress with ¾ sleeves that went down to her ankles.

"You look beautiful Fara" Penelo said smiling. Vaan nodded enthusiastically. Fara just laughed and said "come on, I don't want to walk in there all by myself."

The three walked together to the room where the ball was to be held. The room was rarely used, but it was grand. They all looked at each other, opened up the door and walked inside.


	10. Chapter 10

The room was magnificent. Everywhere that Fara looked was beautiful and decorated. Every person was in their finest and having a grand time. Still, it made Fara feel uncomfortable because she knew under most of those expensive dresses and custom made suits were dark secrets, and it was her job to find out if any of those secrets could help them catch a break with this mysterious Peaks organization. She made it to the far side of the room, Vaan and Penelo headed to the left side. Vaan turned and gave Fara a wink. She smiled in return. She knew he was going to have a lot of fun tricking these people out of their secrets.

Soon Basch came up to her. "You look stunning in that dress. I knew you would" he said smiling kindly at her.

"Thanks" she replied, touching the smooth fabric. "You look exquisite yourself. These people won't know what hit them."

"I think you might be enjoying this a little bit too much" Basch joked "You're becoming quite the con-artist."

"Well I'm only doing it to save the world so I think my karma will balance out in the end" she replied.

"Look that one is eying you now" Basch said pointing at a young man in the corner looking at Fara "I suggest you start. Maybe tonight we will finally get somewhere."

She nodded and walked over by him, giving him an encouraging smile.

"May I have this dance?" he asked, looking a little nervous. Fara nodded and went off with him.

The night continued like this for a while. Fara learned very little, but she was having fun. She looked for her friends and saw only Basch. She walked up to him again. "Where did everybody go?" Fara asked.

"Vaan and Penelo slipped out about 15 minutes ago. And I have not seen Fran or Balthier" he trailed off looking at someone over his shoulder, "Ah speak of the devil there he is now." He pointed over her shoulder and Fara turned around. Balthier was chatting with a pretty blonde girl over by the buffet table. Fara felt her stomach turn a little, but she ignored it. Of course Balthier would have the girls all over him. She felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around and saw a handsome man extending his hand to her. He had dark hair and dazzling grey eyes. She smiled and accepted his hand. Basch raised an eyebrow to her and walked off in search of a partner of his own. The music started and she began to dance.

The man was very good and led her well. "It seems like you know how to do this" he said smiling at her "most of the time I have girls stepping all over my feet." Fara laughed and said "Well this isn't my first time."

He smiled and said "I can tell."

"It's nice to be able to forget yourself for a while. The world seems so troubled these days." She said, trying to lead him into spilling something, if he did know.

"Isn't there always trouble?" he replied smoothly.

"Maybe. But it seems worse these days. After Queen Ashe was restored to the throne I hoped there would be a long and prosperous peace, but I have heard strange rumblings of trouble once again. Many assassinations and strange sightings" she probed.

"Ah so you noticed" he replied, "most people are not as astute as you. Maybe it's not as bad as you think. Change is not always a bad thing, perhaps it is time for a changing of the guard. Our rulers have dark secrets that the masses do not know." Fara stopped dancing and looked at him. She led him off of the dance floor and asked "What do you mean?"

"Now is not the time for such talk. My name is Brant by the way." He replied.

"I'm Fara, but I could you to explain what you meant?" she asked.

"Maybe, if you come upstairs to someplace quieter I can explain to you" he answered running a finger along her collarbone. She stepped away quickly. This man probably knew something, and she might flirt for the cause, but that was as far as she would go. She figured Brant probably wanted to take her upstairs for another reason. "No thank you" she said firmly.

"Oh come on. I promise it will be nice for you" he said taking her hand firmly. She pulled away. Brant looked like he was starting to get angry, but he was pulled away quickly by someone behind him. "I believe the lady said no" a smooth voice said. Balthier stepped up and put himself between Brant and Fara. "And I believe that this is none of your business" Brant replied. He pushed Balthier hard and Balthier took a step back. Balthier smirked a little and said "I was hoping you would do something idiotic." Balthier punched Brant hard in the chin. Brant fell back, crashing into a couple dancing. He got back up looking furious. "Who do you think you are?" Brant yelled.

"I think you should stop, you are making a scene" Balthier replied coldly. Brant looked behind him and made a come here motion with his hands. Out of the crowd a group of large men came up and stood behind Brant. "Hmm it seems this just became a little bit more complicated" Balthier said. One of the men lunged at him, but he ducked and elbowed the man in the jaw. Another came at Fara but she kneed him in the stomach and pushed him to the ground. "Run" Balthier said and took Fara's hand. He led her through the crowd and out the door. The men were following them. They ran through the corridors laughing. They eventually left the men and collapsed a deserted hallway. "It's just like old times" Fara said smiling at Balthier. He smiled back and said "I would not have it any other way." Fara leaned her head on Balthier's shoulder. "I did miss you" Fara said picking up her head and looking him in the eyes. "I know you did" Balthier replied taking her hand in his and smiling. "And I missed you, every day." They got up and walked back to their rooms. "Good night" Fara shouted after Balthier. He nodded in return. Fara went to bed, happier then she had been in a while.


	11. Chapter 11

Fara ambled down to breakfast at a fairly late hour. She had decided to sleep in this morning because she had been tired. And also because she was dreading seeing Ashe a little bit. She was sure their little scene the night before had gained some attention, and questions would be asked about why the queen had such unruly guests staying with her. Then again, there was no way that she was going to "go upstairs" with that guy. Granted, he was a good looking guy, but that was simply not something she would consider.

Penelo walked out from a room ahead of Fara. They smiled at each other and started to walk together.

"Are you heading to breakfast?" Fara asked conversationally.

"Yes I am" Penelo said. Then she looked around, grabbed Fara's arm, and pulled her into an empty room on the side of the hallway. "But first," Penelo continued, "What happened last night? I've been hearing things from the maids all morning. You and Balthier got in a fight?"

"Oh that. Yes we did. But we didn't start it" Fara said, then she paused and continued "Oh wait yes we did. But they deserved it."

"Well what happened?" Penelo asked.

"I was dancing with a man. He actually seemed like he may know something, he was saying some strange things. Anyway, I asked him to explain, and he told me to come upstairs with him. I refused, naturally, but he insisted."

"Ah and that must be Balthier got involved" Penelo mused.

"Correct. A few punches were exchanged" Fara started.

"And then we exited stage right" Balthier ended, he was standing in the doorway.

Penelo looked from one to the other and then nodded. "Well I'm sad that I missed it" she said.

"Why did you leave?" Fara asked.

"Um… Vaan and I may have seen someone that we may have borrowed something from" Penelo said, looking embarrassed.

"Ah an old mark" Balthier said "I can understand why you did not want to be seen. Regardless, I believe that it is time to eat. And perhaps explain our behavior last night."

Fara and Penelo nodded. They walked down the vaulted halls in silence. The midmorning sun came through the windows lighting the walls and casting a golden color over the three of them. Fara watched Balthier out of the corner of her eye. The sun made him look almost ethereal. His skin glowed and his eyes were bright. She caught herself and turned and faced forward again. Well, he certainly grew up well Fara thought to herself. But he certainly had noticed that too.

They eventually reached the dining room and found everyone else sitting at the table. They stopped their conversation and looked up when Penelo, Fara and Balthier entered the room. It was silent for a few seconds, but it seemed like much longer. Suddenly, Basch started laughing. Ashe gave him a stern look and he quieted, though he was still chuckling a little.

"Well what do you two have to say for yourselves?" Ashe asked sternly, though Fara could tell that she was not actually that angry. They launched into the story again and after Ashe seemed calmer.

"Well, I suppose that this Brant fellow deserved it. Though I do wish you two could have been more discreet. I feel that our undercover information search may be at an end" Ashe said.

"Finally," Vaan sighed, "I didn't know how much more I could take of that."

Suddenly, before anyone else could respond, a loud sound came from below them and the floor shook. Ashe sprung into action immediately.

"You three" she pointed to some guards hanging out at the edge of the hall "Find Larsa and Al-Cid and get them to safety." The guards ran to the door and out of sight.

Basch spoke next. "I will get more soldiers and find out what this is." He then ran out of the hall.

"So shall we" Balthier said. And with that Fara, Balthier, Fran, Penelo, and Vaan ran out of the hall. They sprinted down the nearby stairs and were engulfed in dust and ash. They were on the ground level now, and they saw a hole in the wall leading out into the grounds. The wall had been completely blown apart. Rubble and debris lay all over the floor and soldiers were running around in confusion.

"What the…" Fara began, but before she could finish an enormous creature burst through the hole in the wall. It looked like a giant bull, but it had large bat like wings and it was a dark grey color. Its eyes shone golden and it looked right at Fara. It charged at her. She leaped out of the way and grabbed for her swords out of habit. Of course she did not have them with her, she had not worn since she had been staying in the castle. She cursed under breath and ran further out of the way.

Soon, Basch came around the corner with about 20 guards and soldiers behind him. He directed them to surround the creature and came over to their group. He was carrying five swords with him and passed them out.

"I know that this may not be your weapon of choice" he said looking at Balthier, Fran and Penelo, "But it will have to do for now." Everyone grabbed a sword and turned to face the creature. At the moment a few soldiers were engaging it, but they were not having much luck. They all immediately leapt in and slashed at the creature. It seemed as though its hide was made of pure iron, because their attacks simply glanced off.

"It is no good" Fran yelled "It would be best if we force it out onto the grounds and keep it out of the castle."

They all nodded their consent and began to push the creature out. If it tried to go another way, one of them would be their in an instant blocking its path. In a few minutes they had finally forced the creature onto the lawn.

"Now what?" Penelo asked, looking around. No one said a thing. Fara took a deep breath and ran at it. She heard someone calling her name, but she ignored it. She launched off the ground and slashed at the things neck. Her blow was as useless as the last ones had been, but it gave her the advantage and she used it to get it front of its head and she stabbed it in the eye, hard. This one did do some damage. The creature made a strangled cry and swatted her with one of its wings. She flew 10 feet into the air and landed in a crumpled heap on the grass.

Her vision was blurry and she could feel herself loosing consciousness. Before everything went black, she saw two men standing behind the creature, one in a long black cloak that covered his face, the other taller man with dark hair. Then everything went black.


	12. Chapter 12

When Fara regained consciousness, it was nighttime. There was no light coming through the window near her bed. She was laying in a white bed in a white room, full of shelves covered in odd looking machines. It was some kind of infirmary by the looks of it, which made sense, because her whole body ached. The whole place just seemed so sterile. She tried to lift an arm, but quickly gave that up when a shooting pain went up the whole side of her body. She groaned and dropped her arm back down, which also hurt a great deal.

"Ah it looks like you have finally awoken" a voice came from beside her. She looked over and saw Balthier and Basch sitting next to her bed. She smiled a little, but that hurt too, so she did not stay that way for long. Both of them looked extremely tired and forlorn.

"Is everyone alright?" Fara asked quietly. Balthier and Basch shared a look.

"There were casualties, three soldiers" Basch replied, "And..." he trailed off before he finished his sentence. Balthier picked up where he left off.

"Ashe, Larsa and Al-Cid are all missing." Fara felt fear pool in the bottom of her stomach.

"How could this happen? How could these people just come into the palace and take three world leaders?" Fara asked, sharper then she meant too. And she felt bad after Basch's face fell. She did not think it could have been possible for him to look any sadder.

"It is my fault. It was my responsibility to keep them safe" Basch whispered.

"Stop that" Balthier said "It is nobodies fault. These people were more prepared then we could have anticipated." He then turned to Fara.

"The esper was a diversion. When the palace's forces were focused on the beast an elite team came in and took all three of them. They knew exactly where Ashe and the rest would be."

"So it was an esper. I thought as much." Fara said.

"We believe it might have been Mitron" Basch replied.

"And you will never guess who had summoned the foul beast," Balther said, "Our friend Brant and a mysterious cloaked man. Perhaps the one you met in that alley in Balfonheim."

"I knew that bastard was hiding something" Fara replied, referring to Brant.

At that moment Fran, Penelo and Vaan walked in to the room. All three looked instantly relieved to see Fara awake.

"So you have finally woken. You have been out for more then a day" Fran said.

"A day?" Fara exclaimed.

"The battle happened yesterday" Penelo explained.

Fara nodded. She could not believe that she had been out for a whole day. It seemed like an instant ago she had leaped at Mitron. It seemed like Balthier was reading her mind because he said "What were you thinking anyways? Jumping at that thing like it was just another monster. You could have died." There was a hint of anger in his voice and it put Fara on the defensive.

"I didn't see anyone else with a brilliant idea" she replied sulkily.

"It does not matter now," Basch cut in, "We must think of what to do next."

"Well we go after them right?" Vaan exclaimed. "We have to save them."

"Brash as always my young sky pirate," Balthier drawled, "but we still do not know who these people are, or what sort of resources they have."

"It matters not," Fran cut in "We can not let these fiends complete whatever foul plans they have conceived."

Everyone nodded in agreement and Balthier shrugged.

"So be it" he said.


	13. Chapter 13

The next morning they found out that they did not have to look very hard to find their lost friends. At dawn, airships had flown over Rabanastre and from reports many other cities across Ivalice, and dropped off hundreds of pages. Each page read like this:

_People of Ivalice. The time of your kings and emperors is now over. They rejected our gods and because of this have brought the gods wrath. But there is still hope. In one week at sunset in Archades this reign of terror will be over. A new era in which the people can work hand in hand with gods will begin. _

_The Peaks. _

At the moment Fran, Balthier, Basch, Penelo, Vaan and Fara were sitting at a table in the library discussing this newest development.

"They knew that we would find out about this and they didn't care. They must be very confident in their ability to keep us at bay" Fara mused.

"That doesn't mean that we shouldn't try" Vaan said.

"Of course we will" Basch replied "We are not going into this blind. It is clear that these people do wield the espers of light, or at least some of them. And with this talk of the gods, I believe the Occuria are behind all of it. Also, I think it is smartest to assume that they are going to execute their prisoners in a public place. The occuria will want to show the masses what happens to those that oppose them. They will be made example of."

A silence filled the room as everyone thought of the occuria and an execution of their friends.

"They could not let the reigns of history slip through their fingers forever. The Gods are putting up a final charge" Fran finally broke the silence.

"Well we can not let our story end like that," Balthier added, "We leave for Archades as soon as Fara feels strong enough."

"I'm ready now" Fara argued, trying to get to her feet. She was able to, even though it was very painful. Balthier raised an eyebrow at her, it was clear that he did not believe her.

"You are not fooling us Fara. Besides we need a few days to gather our forces and any information we can get." Basch said, making Fara sit back down again.

The next few days Fara felt rather useless. She lay in bed all day while her friends scrambled around trying to gather weapons and supplies. It was decided that a small elite group would be best. So Fara and the rest would be on their own. They needed to be invisible and a large force would gather unwanted attention.

Fara had tried to help often, but whenever she did one of her friends would give her an exasperated look and force her back into bad, usually mumbling about her stubborn nature. She was actually secretly grateful for their unwavering insistence on her rest because her head still pounded most of the time.

Five days had passed by the time they left. Fara felt like she had been regained to full health, and was ready to go. As soon as they got to Archades they needed to determine where the execution would most likely take place. The current plan was to search the city for the most likely places. The Peaks and their Occuria puppeteers would want to find an area where thousands of people would see it. They would want the news to spread like wild fire over all of Ivalice, as always seemed to happen.

Many people somehow already knew of the missing leaders and had thus connected these disappearances to the mysterious notes. Because of this when the Strahl arrived in the Imperial City of Archades the streets were already flooded with curious spectators.

"Honestly these people" Penelo mumbled and shook her head as they exited the ship.

"The masses have arrived to observe the death of the people who worked so hard to keep peace and prosperity. How very typical." Fran observed.

"Well they're just here for a let down I guess" Fara replied, trying to lighten the mood. She was feeling much better and was in a good mood because of it, or least as good a mood as could be expected.

After a day of searching and contemplating, they decided that the most logical spot for the execution would be at the central courtyard. It was a huge plaza surrounded by tall buildings. The perfect spot for throngs of people to see the death of some of the greatest leaders Ivalice had ever known. Fara worried that it might have been too easy for them to figure this out. She privately thought that the Peaks may have something up their sleeve, to throw her party off. But then again they seemed very confident, and that pride could be their downfall. She hoped that they were just simply underestimating her friends. She knew that all of them would go to any lengths to stop this.

The night before the execution Fara could not sleep. They were staying at an inn at the edge of the central courtyard. It was a nice place, but Fara did not really notice. She, like everyone else was too preoccupied. She slipped out of her bed and padded outside. She stood on the edge of the deserted courtyard. The blackness stretched out before her and it made it hard to believe that tomorrow this place would be chaos. It was silent. Too quiet actually, she assumed that normally even at night this courtyard would have people in it enjoying the fresh night air.

Fara heard footsteps coming towards her from the inn. She turned and saw Balthier strolling towards her.

"A beautiful night is it not?" he asked when he was beside her. She nodded.

"Yeah I guess it is" she replied. "Though that was not what was on my mind."

"Worrying about it will not help" Balthier chided.

"Oh I realize that. But that does not mean that I can stop. It's easy for you to say. You have already saved the world once." Fara replied.

"Perhaps. But that does not make it easier to sit and wait while my friends are in danger." Balthier said.

"I know. It just seems like nothing fazes you in the slightest" she said, looking at him, searching for a sign of concern.

"That comes with years of practice" Balthier chuckled.

"I used to be able to read you like a book you know. But now, even I can't." Fara sighed.

Balthier smiled at her, "Being apart for years can do that to people I hear."

Fara laughed a little "I suppose. I think I should be getting to bed, you too, we will need our strength for tomorrow."

They walked back to the inn and up to their bedrooms.

"Goodnight Fara" Balthier said, placing a hand on her shoulder. It lingered for a second and he continued "get some rest." Fara smiled and went to her room.

Though she did not think that she would be able to sleep, she drifted into oblivion as soon as her head hit her pillow. The morning came quickly. Vaan was shaking her awake, rather roughly.

"Fara get up you lazy bum" he was saying to her.

She groaned, then remembered what was going to happen today, and she sat straight up. She smacked her head against Vaans, hard. She groaned again and fell back into her bed. Vaan jumped up, grabbing his forehead.

"Fara are you okay?" Vaan grumbled. He was obviously in pain, but he was worried about her because of her recent injuries.

"I'm grand" she forced out. No need to worry about her, honestly it was just a bump in the head. They walked downstairs both still holding their heads.

"What happened to you two?" Penelo asked when she saw them.

"I was just waking her up like you asked and she jumped up and attacked me!" Vaan joked. Fara hit him playfully on the shoulder and rolled her eyes.

They met up with the rest outside in the plaza. The sun was high in the sky.

"It must be noon at least" Fara said, "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?"

"You looked too peaceful" Balthier replied smirking.

It was nice to have the mood lightened, even though Fara could tell it was only on the surface. Everyone was on edge. The courtyard was packed with people. They pushed through the crowd towards the center. In the middle of the square they could see some sort of airship hovering above the crowd. Below the airship 50 masked men had pushed the people back, so the ground was clear. They were only a few rows back from these men when they stopped.

"What now?" Penelo asked.

"If we were to engage them now, the hostages would not be brought here. We must wait to strike until we see them" Basch answered.

"We should attack from the sky" Balthier insisted. "They will probably use the airship so everyone can see their viciousness from the ground."

"We will need someone on the ground to tell us when they have arrived, and to engage the soldiers to create a distraction" Fara said.

In the end Penelo and Vaan were to stay and signal the others. The rest would be on the Strahl ready to rescue the hostages.

They pushed back out of the crowd and hurried towards the Strahl. When they arrived, they readied themselves. Fara sheathed her father's swords on her back and sat in the cockpit, behind the captain's chair. The plan was to fly in, gun's blazing, get Ashe, Larsa and Al-Cid, and get out as quickly as possible. The next few hours stretched on like years. But finally they heard the crowd outside hush. Vaan came in over the radio. "A ship is approaching" he crackled "Get over here."

Balthier piloted the ship while Fran, Balthier and Fara stood at the cargo hold. The back was open and she watched the city fly by beneath them. She knew they were nearing the courtyard. She took a deep breath and steadied herself. She finally saw a ship below them, and thousands of people below them. Balthier steadied the ship and joined Fara. The ship below them had three figures standing on the edge, with what looked like ropes around their necks. She recognized a figure standing behind them as Brant. He began to yell.

"The gods are tired of ruling from behind the scenes, while conniving humans ruin their carefully laid plans. From now on, you will see their faces and you will obey."

At that moment, three things happened at once. Vaan and Penelo broke through the soldiers on the ground. The ship with the hostages tipped, and they fell off the edge. And Fara, Fran, Balthier, and Basch jumped out of the Strahl and hurtled towards the earth.


	14. Chapter 14

Fara was falling, but she did not have time to worry about that right now. Below her, empires were falling, and that was more important. An arrow flew from Fran's bow, slicing through Al-Cid's rope. A bullet from Balthier sliced through Larsa's rope and Basch threw a knife, slicing through Ashe's rope a second before it would have snapped her neck. The three leaders fell and landed on their feet. Fran, Basch and Balthier landed a few seconds later. Vaan and Penelo rushed over, handing weapons to their newly friends taken from the slain soldiers who had been keeping the crowd at bay. Fara had landed on the top of the ship a few seconds before. She stood facing Brant.

"What a pleasure it is to see your glorious face again Fara" Brant cooed, reaching out to stroke her face. She slapped his hand away, hard.

"I'm surprised to see in such a good mood, after we foiled your brilliant plan" Fara replied sarcastically.

"It matters not, you could not believe that we did not have a backup could you? In fact, I rather think the occuria hoped that this might not work. This way they can start over" Brant said. Before Fara could reply the airship began to move beneath her feet, catching her off guard. Brant pushed her off the edge and yelled, "I'm sure I'll be seeing you again soon dear. But in the meantime, a going away present" Fara landed and watched the airship fly off. As it did, two huge creatures materialized. One was familiar, Mitron, the other was a four legged beast with two barbed tails. They landed ten feet away from the group. Everyone was already busy fighting the masked guards, and the new espers were not a welcome sight.

The people who had come to the courtyard were in chaos. They were fleeing as fast as they could, stepping over those who had tripped and fallen in front of them. People were being crushed under the weight of the feet of their fellow countrymen.

"You must get out" Basch yelled to Ashe, Larsa and Al-Cid. Balthier pressed a button on a remote control that he had fished out of his pocket. The Strahl lowered and landed on the ground. Ashe looked like she was about to argue, but Balthier interrupted her "Now is not the time for brash action princess, we risked our lives to save you and I hope that you will not throw that away." Ashe did not seem like she was happy with this, but she was pulled into the ship's belly by Larsa and Al-Cid. They disappeared into the ship.

The new esper began running towards the Strahl, trying to stop its escape, but Fran appeared before it, holding it back. Fara ran and joined her, slashing at the beast. Thirty seconds later she heard the Strahl pick up and leave. Fara released a deep breath, grateful to know that even if they lost their lives, it would not be in vain.

The courtyard was almost deserted now.

"Nothing like a few hideous monsters to clear the area" Fara said. Fran smiled a little and replied "It comes."

The beast was charging at them again, this time instead of holding it back they stepped out of the way and jumped back, letting it run harmlessly by. Fara took this moment of respite to look around. Penelo and Basch were busy with Mitron, while Balthier and Vaan were taking out the remaining soldiers. Many had fled with the crowds when the two espers had appeared.

"Well they don't seem to have the most loyal troops" Fara thought to herself "That's a plus."

She did not have much more time to think though, when a force slammed into her back, it was one of the barbed tales. The sharp end made a gash in her soldier and she gritted her teeth.

"By the Gods Fara now is not the time to doze off" Balthier yelled at her. She jumped back as the other tail lashed at her and it barely missed her gut. Blood was dripping off her arm and the pain was almost unbearable.

"Fran" she yelled "buy me a few minutes." Fran nodded and got the creatures attention, making it get further away from Fara. Fara ripped the bottom of her sleeve off and tied it at the top of her arm, tight, trying to slow the blood loss. When she was satisfied she ran off at the beast again.

It was clear that they were losing the battle. Everyone had wounds and everyone was getting tired. Fara felt her back run into someone. She turned and saw the rest of her group right behind her. Their backs were to Fran's and Fara's and the beasts were on either side of them.

"Even though we don't have any ideas right now, don't go charging in Fara." Vaan said to her.

"Fair enough" Fara replied, her eyes never leaving the monster in front of her.

Finally, they got a lucky break. Larsa's soldiers came pouring in from all sides of the courtyard.

"Get down" Balthier said, and pushed Fara down just as the soldiers began to shoot. Everyone else had dropped as well and put their hands over their heads. The monster's disappeared quickly and the shooting stopped.

Fara got shakily up from the ground. Balthier's hand was still on her shoulder and he helped her up. She nodded her thanks and looked over his shoulder. Ashe, Larsa and Al-Cid were coming towards them.

"My ship?" Balthier called.

"Safe, of course" Larsa replied.

"And all of you?" Ashe asked worriedly.

"A few scratches, nothing we haven't had before" Vaan assured her. Fara glanced at her arm, it was still bleeding and she fairly sure she had not had this before, but she said nothing. It could wait.

"We must get you three to a safe location immediately. We can all meet up later and discuss our next actions" Basch insisted.

The three leaders did not seem happy with this, but they could not argue. They began to walk away, but Ashe stopped and turned back around.

"Thank you," she said sincerely and turned to leave. An armed guard surrounded them to escort them. Ashe called over her shoulder "And Balthier do not call me Princess."


	15. Chapter 15

Fara stood in the middle of the square and watched as Ashe, Larsa, and Al-Cid left. She was still clutching her right arm, and blood was dripping off her hand.

"We should return to the Strahl and wait for them to contact us. We will plan our next move then." Basch decided, looking to the others for confirmation. They all nodded and began to walk away. After Fara took a few steps, she stumbled. Balthier grabbed her arm and steadied her.

"You are hurt" he said, studying the wound on her arm.

"I'm sure it's nothing" she said, smiling slightly. But even as she said that she could see her vision growing fuzzy. She shook her to clear her thoughts. Balthier took her gently by her uninjured arm.

"Go ahead," Balthier told the others, "I am taking her to Larsa's to find a medic. She has lost too much blood." With that, he scooped her up in his arms and began to hurry towards the palace.

Fara was still mostly conscious, though she did feel a little strange.

"Don't worry" Fara said to Balthier. "I've had worse then this. I think."

"It seems that every time we are in a fight, you have at least this bad." Balthier scolded.

"It's only been twice" Fara replied.

"Two for two." Balthier responded.

Fara laughed softly and leaned her head against his shoulder, mostly because she could not keep her head up any longer. As they reached the palace, Fara finally lost consciousness.

She woke up, once again in an infirmary. Everyone was standing around her, including Ashe, Larsa, and Al-Cid.

"Ah sleeping beauty finally awakes" Al-Cid said to her, smiling.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Balthier give Al-Cid a strange look and she smiled.

"Please don't tell me I've been out for a whole day again" she said, looking around hopefully.

"No, only a few hours" Penelo replied. Fara nodded and looked around again.

"Um so what's the plan." She asked, feeling a little uneasy with all of these eyes on her.

"We were waiting for you to awaken. Now, if you are feeling up to it, we can go to my office and figure out a plan." Larsa responded kindly.

In truth, Fara was still feeling a little nauseas, but she looked down at her arm and saw it was bandaged up and no longer bleeding.

"Of course" she replied, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and standing up.

Everyone filed out of the room and Fara followed them. They walked down a few beautiful hallways and grand staircases.

"Are you sure you are alright?" Basch asked, walking besides Fara. She turned to him and saw genuine concern in his eyes.

"Yes really I'm fine you all don't need to worry about me so much. I promise I'm tougher then I look." Fara replied smiling.

"I certainly hope so" Basch said seriously. Fara fake glared at him and he laughed.

"I'm just glad to see you're fine. You have certainly become part of the team, and if something happened to you, well I do not know what we would do." Basch glanced at Balthier as he said this. Fara smiled.

They arrived at Larsa's office and walked in. It was a very large room; on the far wall was big window, with a view of the city. The other walls were made up of bookcases that reached all the way to the ceiling. Dust floated through air and the whole room smelled like old books. Fara had always loved that smell, it reminded of the library in her old home.

In the middle of the room sat a table. Everyone grabbed a seat and sat down. First thing, Fara told them about what Brant had said to her.

"I do not like the sound of the occuria wanting to start over" Al-Cid mused.

"I'm fairly certain that can only mean one thing. They want to destroy the current beings of Ivalice, and create a new race that they can once again control." Ashe replied.

"Destroy the whole world? How could they do that?" Penelo asked panicked.

"Do you think that's why they are giving the Peaks the espers of light? I'm sure it would be a lot easier to destroy the world with their help." Fara said.

"So we are back to square one in a way. We must find out how the light espers can be used to destroy all of Ivalice." Balthier said. "We should return to my father's laboratory. Perhaps we will have better luck this time around."

"I know that it seems like we may be repeating our actions, but it seems to be the only choice that we have at the moment" Ashe replied.

"I think that I may have a better idea." Larsa said.

He stood up and went over to one of the stacks. He rifled through it and finally pulled out a large volume. Its covers were a dark read, and Fara could not make out the title because it was in a language that she did not know. He returned to his seat and flipped to page towards the end.

"Ah, here it is." He said excitedly. "I stumbled upon this entry a few days ago. It is about an entity in the forests north of the Necrohol of Nabudis. It says that he is as old as the occuria, and knows many of their secrets. I looked through some of my father's ledgers and found that years ago a man went to find him, and came back with a great amount of new information. If we are lucky, he will still be there."

"What sort of new information?" Vaan asked.

"Let me take a guess. It was information about the nethicite, and how to find the occuria. This man, it would not happen to be my late father?" Balthier asked.

Larsa looked at Balthier with a sad expression and nodded once.

"Once again we walk in his footsteps" Balthier said tersely.

"Balthier, we have to try" Fara said calmly, looking at him. Balthier seemed to relax some and nodded his ascent.

"You can leave in the morning, for now you must get some rest" Ashe reasoned.

"Fara, perhaps I can give a tour of the castle?" Al-Cid asked, he walked around the table and put his hand out to help her up.

Basch, Balthier and Vaan all stood up quickly.

"I think Fara should rest" Vaan said.

"She has been through a lot today, she is still healing." Basch added.

Al-Cid shrugged and left the room with Larsa and Ashe. Fara turned to Basch, Balthier and Vaan and mouthed a quick thank you. They all smiled slightly and walked out of the room with her.


	16. Chapter 16

Fara, Balthier, Fran, Basch, Penelo and Vaan were all aboard the Strahl. They had just passed above the Necrohol of Nabudis and were continuing to fly north. Before they left they had revisited Cid's lab and found a more exact location. Though they still were not exactly sure where this entity would be. They that about one hour north they would no longer be able to fly. For some reason the entity caused airships to go haywire, which is why very few ever ventured this far up. At that point they would have to disembark and walk two hours northwest.

"So what exactly are we going to do when we find this thing?" Vaan asked.

"Hope it's friendly, first of all" Balthier answered.

"And then?" Vaan prodded.

"We ask if it knows anything. I guess" Fara said tentatively.

"We are flying blind, as per usual" Basch joked.

Eventually they landed, gathered their gear, and took off into the forest. It was an ancient immense forest. Fara could barely see the tops of the trees, and mist crept around their feet. It seemed to her like the trees were pressing in on them and Fara shivered slightly. She felt a reassuring hand on her back and turned to see Balthier behind her.

"You can not be scared now? You will charge at any beast that crosses your path, but a few dimly lit trees and you are ready to flee back to the Strahl?" he asked.

Fara smiled sarcastically at him and turned back around.

"Do not be too hard on her Balthier, she is not as used to saving the world as the rest of us are" Basch said, ruffling her hair.

"That's true you should never be too hard on the rookie" Penelo called over her shoulder.

For a while everyone kept giving Fara a hard time and she took it in stride, throwing a few choice insults of her own. Eventually though, everyone grew quiet, the immensity of the forest around them causing their silence. They finally got to a large cave about two hours after they left.

"Just where the old man said it would be" Balthier mused as they came to a stop.

"The mist is everywhere" Fran said.

"This must be the place then" Fara replied.

They walked into the cave. At first, it looked just like an average cave, but soon the walls expanded and they came into a large room. The roof was held up with pillars that were at least five feet in diameter. At the far end there was another door, and a faint light was coming through it.

"It looks like that's where we're headed" Vaan said and charged forward. Everyone else followed him. As they grew closer to the door, Fara realized that it was much bigger then she originally thought. Up close she realized it must be 20 feet and high and 10 feet wide. It was covered with an ancient language. Vaan marched right up, set his hand on the door, and gears sprung to life behind it. Fara took a cautionary step back as the large door began to rise, light poured out from the new opening. They all shielded their eyes and waited for the door to rise completely.

On the other side Fara was surprised to see natural sunlight and beautiful plants. They walked through and found themselves in a small valley. It seemed to be warmer here then it had been before when they were outside. It almost seemed like a rainforest, which was very strange because they were so far north. Fara walked over to a nearby bush and picked a stunning red flower. It had six petals and a bright blue center. She smiled slightly and put it in her hair. She looked up and saw Balthier staring at her. She gave him an inquisitive look, but the corners of his mouth twitched and he looked away.

There was a path of cobbled stones that led straight into the heart of the valley. They began to follow the path. They winded through the colorful scenery and finally came to a small structure. It seemed to be a kind of temple, with pillars of obsidian, the blackness of the stone standing in stark contrast to the bright jungle surrounding it.

"We've come this far" Fara muttered. They all nodded and walked into the structure.

As soon as they were inside the temperature dropped twenty degrees at least. The polished stone seemed to sap the energy out of Fara. The flower that she had in her hair withered and fell to the floor. She picked it up, studying it, and saw it had turned as black as the stones around them. She dropped it again. And looked around, it was very hard to see anything, and she could barely make out the back wall. They searched the temple high and low, but could not find anything in it.

"There's nothing here" Penelo said dejectedly.

"That is not possible. Cid was here and he found what he was looking for" Balthier argued.

"Wait, over here" Fara called. On the far side writing covered the wall, but she could not make out what it said because of the darkness. She pressed her palm against the cold stone and suddenly all the words began to glow gold.

Fran walked up and began to read the writing.

"At the beginning of time the occuria bound beings of great power to themselves. Both light and dark to balance the flows of time. The darkness tried and failed to free themselves, and in turn gained only more bondage. The light will sleep until they can be freed. Then light and dark will be one, to bring the old world to its knees in order to start a new. Together light and dark will become everything and everything will become nothing."

"Ah nothing like a cryptic apocalyptic message to get the blood moving" Balthier said.

"So they are collecting all the espers in order to bring about a being that can destroy the world. The occuria are tired of trying to control us, so they want to destroy us, and start a new world with beings that they can chain to their will" Basch explained.

"It continues" Fran said, pointing to a different section of the text "The many will become one with a stone of magic in the center of all."

"One guess on what that stone of magic could be. The center of it all though, that could prove to be a little trickier" Balthier said.

"Maybe it's just as it seems. The center of everything, the center of the world, the Dalmasca Estersand is right in the middle of the map" Fara suggested.

"That would make sense" Penelo offered.

"We do not even know if they have all the light espers yet" Basch said.

"I think we have to assume that they do. They have the blessings of the occuria, who hold the light espers in their grasp" Fara reasoned.

Everyone nodded.

"So we head to the Dalmasca Estersand first, and see if we can stop this right?" Penelo asked.

"We must report back" Basch replied.

"Maybe we can split up, one team could head to the Dalmasca Estersand, the other could go back and tell the others what we know" Vaan said.

"It is a sound plan" Fran responded.

"So, Vaan, Penelo and I can head back to Archades. Fran, Balthier and Fara can go ahead to the Estersand. We will meet there in three days." Basch said. It seemed a good a plan as any at this point, so they decided to part ways. Balthier's group was to take the Strahl, stop at the nearest city and send an airship back to pick up the others. Then they were going to go on to the Estersand and see what they saw there.

"We will see you soon" Fara said to the other group, smiling slightly. They all said goodbye, but there was an edge to their voices. They were up against the gods, and the world was at stake.


	17. Chapter 17

Fara, Fran and Balthier were walking through the Dalmasca Estersand. They had set the Strahl down on the western eastern edge and had decided to trudge through towards the Bahamut and Rabanastre. The sand swirled around their feet, and stretched out as far as the eye could see. So far, they had seen nothing out of the ordinary. Not that they really knew what to look for.

"This will be enough for one day" Balthier said, "We will continue in the morning."

"That should be were we sleep" Fran added, pointing towards a cave in a nearby cliff.

They all walked to the cave. It was cool and dark, a welcome change from the blinding sun and heat of the desert. Fara made a fire and they sat around it in silence for a while. The sun had gone down by now, and because they were so tired they simply went to sleep.

The ground was hard, but Fara did not mind. She had slept in much worse places then this. She went to sleep almost immediately, it was a difficult and trying time, and any respite was welcome in her mind. Unfortunately for her, it was not to last long. She jolted awake when she felt a gloved hand over her mouth and sharp steel at her neck.

"Say a word and we'll kill your friends" the man said. She recognized his voice as the man in the alley. That seemed like a lifetime ago, but she could not forget the rough timbre of his voice. She nodded. And he pulled her up. He dragged her out of the cave, and she took one look back and saw two other people standing over Fran and Balthier. She was surprised that they did not wake up; they seemed like the kind of people who would sleep with one eye open. She hoped with everything she had that they were not already dead, and that was the reason that they were laying so still.

The man jerked her so that she turned her head around and stumbled. He pulled her to a nearby airship and loaded her inside. It was a small ship that barely held herself and her three captors.

"What do you want?" Fara asked coldly. The man smacked her hard on her jaw in answer. She tried to leap up in rage and wrestle him away from the controls, they were probably going to kill her anyway, and she might as well take them with her. But the two others grabbed her shoulders and forced her back down onto the seat. She clenched her jaw in anger.

"Calm down young one. I am not going to hurt you." The man who was driving said.

"Why should I believe you?" Fara hissed.

"You will find out soon enough." He replied. There was a raw sadness in his voice that Fara was not expecting. She wondered who this man was, and why he had captured her. She figured he was part of the Peaks, and they were probably going to try to bargain with her friends in some way for her life. She hoped that her friends would not be so foolish as to make a deal with these monsters.

After a relatively short time he set the ship down on top of a rocky outcrop in the southern part of the Estersand. At least that is what Fara guessed, but she could not be sure. The man led her out of the ship and sat down on a rock. He gestured to the other two men and they walked down a path that led to the sands below. Once the man was sure that they could not hear what was said he turned to Fara and began to speak.

"I'm sorry I hit you earlier. I could not be kind to you in front of them." He said.

Fara was thrown off by his words and she told him as much.

"Well that is not what I expected you say" she replied.

The man chuckled and said "You were always the truthful one."

"Who are you?" Fara murmured, trying to see the face hidden by the dark hood and shadows.

The man sighed and threw back his hood. Fara gasped and stumbled back, almost falling off the edge of the rock.

"Dad?" she whispered, not believing what she saw.

"Hello Fara" he said sadly.

Her disbelief quickly turned to anger.

"What the hell? Where have you been? Why did you just leave like that? Do you have any idea how long I've been looking for you and mom? Where is mom? What are you doing with these scumbags?" She probably could have continued for a while, but her father stood up and pressed his hand over mouth again.

"Please be quiet Fara" he pleaded "They cannot hear what I have to tell you." He looked fearfully over her shoulder in the direction that the two men had disappeared to.

"Sit down and I will explain as best I can" he said.

Fara did not know if he wanted him to explain. If this was the man that her father had become, a man who would kill and a man who wanted to end the world, why should she listen to him. Still, her love for the man that had raised her won out in the end and she sat cautiously next to him.

"I did not mean to leave you. Your mother and I were taken by the empire. We were tortured for information and insubordination. They did not like how we had spoken out against them. They… they killed her, your mother, in front of my eyes. I went crazy Fara, I escaped and swore to end them all." He said, with such venom in his voice that Fara was put on edge again. He saw this, and took a deep breath. His deep green eyes calming a little, and he pressed on.

"I traveled all of Ivalice looking for a way to destroy them. I eventually found the occuria, and they promised me that they could destroy the empire, and all other corruption. They said that a group of brigands had ended their control over Ivalice, and that was why so much had been going wrong." Fara opened her mouth to tell her father the truth about the occuria, but he held up his hand to silence her.

"I see now that was not the truth entirely, you do not have to tell me. I brought together other like minded individuals and formed the group you know as the Peaks. I was so blind Fara." He lifted a hand and put it to her cheek. She closed her eyes for a second and tried not to scream. It was just too much. Her mother was dead, and her father was responsible for everything that was going wrong in the world.

"I am so sorry Fara, and I want to make it right" he murmured looking at her. She just stared back, trying to take it all in.

"Make it all right?" she said slowly, as if the words were foreign to her.

"Dad. How are you going to do that? You are days away from ending the world. You've set something into motion that I don't think you can stop." She continued.

"I know. And that is why I have come to you. You and your group, you can stop this, but you have to have the information to do so. That is why I took you, to tell you when and where the combination will take place. You are looking in the wrong spot. I had to make it look like I was capturing you to well, to kill you. That was the only way I could get in touch with you." He said.

"Oh of course" Fara muttered sarcastically. Her father chuckled again.

"In two days time on the island to the east of here, the combination will take place. The occuria will be there with a stone they forged, at least as powerful as the nethicite, but I fear it may be much more powerful. Each occuria has sealed a part of itself into the stone, in order to control the espers. All 13 glyphs, along with the stone will have to be laid on a large stone table. After that the Occuria will do some magic and that will be it." He said sadly.

"But how do we stop it?" Fara asked.

"Destroy the stone, destroy the combination, and maybe even the occuria if we are lucky" He said.

"This could destroy the occuria?" Fara interjected sharply.

"Maybe" He replied shrugging his shoulders.

Fara nodded in understanding.

"To destroy the stone you only need to strike it against the table" he continued.

"That's it?" Fara asked disbelievingly.

"This table is said to hold a great amount of power that is why it is needed for the combination." He answered.

Fara was about to open her mouth to ask another question, but she was interrupted.

"I'm afraid they will be starting to get suspicious now. They will give me some extra time because they know that you are my daughter, but not an infinite amount of time. We have to make it look like I killed you." He said standing up.

"Right, just pretend to kill me now." She replied.

"I have to keep up the pretense in order to stay in power. I will do everything I can to sabotage this from within" He said.

Fara took a second before she said what she was thinking, because it was hard for her to say, even after everything.

"I do not know if I can trust you." She murmured, looking up at him.

His face fell for a second, but he quickly smiled.

"I understand, and I will do everything in my power to change that." He took out a knife and sliced into his arm. Fara let out a strangled gasp.

"They have to see the blood. I will tell them I stabbed you then pushed you over the edge, you can get down that way." He pointed towards the other end of the rock.

"I'll just say you got me a little bit."

"Dad I…" Fara started, but she heard voices coming up from where the men had gone.

"Go quick" he said and pushed her away.

She smiled sadly at him and disappeared into the night.


	18. Chapter 18

By the time Fara got back to the cave, the sun was rising. She stopped at the entrance and looked at the red disc coming over the horizon. The light spilt over the sandy hills and lit everything up in red. Fara took a deep breath, it was a lot to take in one night. After searching for so much of her life, the whole time her father had been free to come and find her, but instead he planned the destruction of everything. He was clearly not the man that she had known growing up. She was jolted out of her reverie by a sharp voice behind her.

"Decided to take a walk in the middle of the night eh? I figure you did not see the need to alert either Fran or myself. Why would we worry about one lost soul on the eve of the apocalypse" Balthier said, a hint of steel in his voice.

"Balthier please, do not be angry. You don't know the half of it" Fara replied tiredly.

Balthier did not seem appeased, but Fran broke in.

"Let her speak. I did not think you to be the kind whom would speak guilty before an explanation" She said looking at him strangely. He clenched his jaw and waved a hand for Fara to continue.

The last thing Fara wanted to do right now was explain what had happened to her. But she saw looked at Balthier and saw a glint of fear in his eyes. He had been worried about her. She had disappeared on him before, and had not come back so soon. She owed him an explanation at the least.

She charged on, telling them everything that had happened that night. When she was done she was rather surprised to find that she had started crying at some point of her story.

"Oh gods" she said and wiped away the tears, turning her back on her companions. It had been a very long time since she had cried, and she felt like a weak child.

Balthier came up behind her and slowly turned her around. His face showed pain, which was unusual because he never seemed to wear his emotions on his sleeve. Fran had disappeared back into the cage apparently, because Fara could not see her anywhere.

"Fara" he said quietly, "I owe you an apology. I was far too harsh on you earlier."

He still held his hand on her shoulder and she put her own on top of his.

"I don't blame you Balthier. This was not the first time I've left you. I've never apologized for that, not really. What happened after I left, you shouldn't have had to go through that alone. But I made it so you were alone. I am so sorry for that." She was on the verge of tears again. "This is ridiculous" she fumed. Trying to hold it back.

Balthier chuckled. "You are a strange girl, did you realize?" he asked. "It takes quite an amount of stress to get to me, and all you do is disappear for a night and I end up acting as mad as my father."

Fara looked at him smiling. "Are you saying I drive people crazy?" she asked amused.

"Something along those lines" he mused.

"Come, we must return to the Strahl and talk to the others" Balthier said. Stepping away and turning to retrieve Fran.

"I don't think we'll have to" Fara said, shielding her eyes as she looked up into the sky. A large airship was coming towards them, Ashe's banner flying at the helm. Balthier and Fran stepped out of the cave as the ship landed. Penelo, Vaan and Basch walked out waving at the others.

"Have you found anything?" Basch called as he came towards them. Fara's heart sank at the thought of having to tell the story again. But Balthier turned to her and said "I will tell them, you go get some rest." She nodded and walked off to get some much needed sleep.

Penelo, Vaan and Basch seemed confused by her departure, but Fara was sure they would understand after everything was explained. She lay down again, hoping she would get a better sleep then she had the night before.

By the time she woke up it was dark out again. Apparently she needed rest even more then she had thought. She lifted her head up groggily and saw the rest of her group sitting around the fire. Their mood seemed to be rather light considering what was waiting in their future. But Fara was grateful for that, she would not want to be around a group of people who moped about their fate all the time. It would be horrible.

She sat up and stretched her arms out, yawning slightly. She stood up and walked over the fire, sitting between Basch and Balthier. The light mood that Fara had been so grateful immediately left as soon as she got there. Basch, Penelo and Vaan were looking at her worriedly. Fran and Balthier just looked more tense then usual. Basch reached over and squeezed her shoulder.

"Oh come on guys. I'm fine… I mean I will be fine. I promise. We have much more important things to worry about at the moment" Fara said, looking around at all of them. Nobody said anything, they just glanced at each other.

"Really. I said goodbye to both of my parents long ago. Please, just stop looking at me like I'm about to break into a million pieces" Fara continued.

It was silent for a moment before Balthier spoke.

"I believe that we all know that we can trust Fara in her assessment of her own status. And we do have another thing to worry about. The combination will be taking place tomorrow. We must head to this island, now, I suppose, find this mystical table and end it." Balthier said, his voice snapped the others out of there worry and the group sprang to action.

The fire was extinguished and the group started towards the Strahl. Though they had the airship that the others had come in, they trusted the Strahl and would not want to ride into the hell storm without a ship they could trust. As they walked Fara came up to Balthier.

"Thank you. For earlier I mean. I don't think I could have stood everyone looking at me like that for a minute longer" Fara said to him sincerely.

He turned to her and they stopped. He touched her cheek lightly.

"I know that you can take care of yourself. And most likely the last thing you would want is any sort of special treatment. I remember that much from before" Balthier said.

"You're right. I guess I haven't changed too much" She replied lightly.

"In some ways I suppose. But you have changed Fara" Balthier responded.

"Only in good ways" Fara said.

"Of course" Balthier answered as he turned and continued onto the Strahl.


	19. Chapter 19

The Strahl lowered into the dull grey forest. It was easy enough to find the Island, it was rather large, but there had never been anything on it. Fara had never set eyes on it before and she wondered why there had never been anything built on it. She supposed it did not really matter, but it was curious. The night was dark, and it became even darker when they stepped off the ship. The trees blocked out any stars and it was very difficult to even walk around.

"There is point to search tonight" Basch said wisely "We should get some rest."

"I've already slept enough for now. I can take a look around, I won't wander far. I just want to get a feel for the area, see if I see anything" Fara interjected.

"You should not wander off on your own, there will be all sorts of foul creatures about" Balthier argued, "I will go with you."

"Balthier you should sleep" Fara said.

"Nonsense dear Fara" Balthier interjected, "I will be quite fine."

With that he stepped off into the brush, leaving Fara with no choice but to follow him. She hurried into the darkness. Balthier stepped confidently over all the hidden snags that seemed to trip Fara up. After they had searched for a while, and found nothing, Balthier stopped in front of her. Fara tripped over a tree root and almost crashed into the back of him, but he turned and caught her just in time. She smiled up at him in thanks, but he did not let go of her shoulders when she expected him to.

"Balthier?" she asked questioningly, looking at his face. He let go of her and took a step back.

"Have you thought at all about what tomorrow will bring?" Balthier asked her. This threw her off guard for a second.

"Of course" she answered quickly.

He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"The occuria and thirteen espers will be there, not to mention who knows how many Peaks soldiers, we are fighting a losing battle here Fara." Balthier continued.

"Are you asking me if I'm ready to die? Because the answer to that is no, of course I'm not ready to die. There are a million things that I still want to do. I want to have a home, a real one that I can come back to after a long day doing whatever I feel like doing. I can kick my feet back and read or something." Fara said, her voice was beginning to rise and she was feeling a bit angry. Did he really think that she did not know the cost if they did not succeed?

She continued on "And I want to get to know all of them better. Basch and Vaan and Penelo and everyone. I've only just met them really. And Balthier, Gods, I've only just got you back." She took in a sharp intake of breath at those words and she calmed down a bit, looking at him. "I know what is at stake" she finished lamely.

"Fara" Balthier whispered. He placed his other hand on her cheek and pulled her in a bit closer.

"I know that you are not naïve. I am sorry for questioning you the way I was. I just…" he paused for a second, searching for the right words. "Fara the thought of losing you again is enough to make me want to grab you right now and take you as far away from this place as we could get. Even the extra few hours, days that would buy me would be enough for me. But I know that you will be there fighting tomorrow, and so will I. There is no place I would rather be."

Fara was quiet for a few seconds, thinking of what to say. She quickly realized that there was nothing to say. She reached up and placed her own hands on the back of Balthier's head. She leaned in and kissed him softly. He was still for a second before he pushed her up against a tree behind her and deepened the kiss. All the years they had spent apart melted away, and Fara felt just like the girl she had been when she had left. She had been in love with him even then. She always knew it, but when she left she had forced it down inside herself. It was so hard to leave, she had to pretend that she did not love him and she had pretended for so long she had believed it herself.

Balthier pulled away "Fara I…" he started but was interrupted by a crash near by. They turned to where the sound came from and looked.

Fara strained her eyes, but saw nothing. She was about to take a step when Balthier grabbed her shoulder to make her stop. She froze and saw what he was staring at. A group of soldiers, clearly members of Peaks was passing ten feet in front of them. Four soldiers, Brant, and with a jolt Fara realized that her father was at the front of the group. Fara knew they were heading east, because she could just see the faint light of dawn coming from that direction. After the group had passed Fara and Balthier. Balthier came up and whispered into Fara's ear, just in case the others were still within earshot.

"We know which direction to head in now, let us go back to the others and guide them."

He stepped out in front of her and offered his hand. She took it and he led her back to the Strahl. Fara was glad to have him leading her because she realized she had gotten fairly lost, and probably could not have made it back.

When they arrived back at the Strahl they saw the rest of their group had awoken and was waiting for them.

"Took you guys long enough" Vaan told them, stretching his arms. Fara chuckled nervously glancing at Balthier, he was smirking at her and winked slyly. Fara felt her face growing red. She told herself to hold it together, she had known him for forever, no need to get all embarrassed now. Except for the fact that she finally admitted she was in love with him.

She looked up to see Fran staring at her, a small smile on the viera's face. Fara turned even redder and looked a different way.

"So was your excursion worth it?" Basch asked.

"Very much so" Balthier answered with a sly glance at Fara. She glared at him and cut in "We need to head east. We saw a group going that direction."

"Let us go" Fran said and started off into the trees.


	20. Chapter 20

They had decided to send Basch back with the Strahl to Rabanastre. It was not too long of a flight and they had no chance without some help from the armies of Archadia and Dalmasca. The others bid him farewell and he promised he would be back in time to help. After he had gone they set off in an easterly direction.

It had not taken them long to find the Peaks. They had barely walked fifty feet when they ran into a group of about five soldiers. They dispatched of them easily, which was a good sign because they had far more difficult circumstances ahead of them. They left one alive however, in the hope that he might lead them to the others.

"Which way do we go?" Vaan asked him, his sword pricking the man's back.

"I won't talk to you" the man answered, spitting on the ground by Balthier's feet, who was standing in front of him.

"Watch it" Fara said smacking the man in the back of the head.

"Thank you" Balthier said smiling at Fara. She nodded smiling back. He then turned back to the man.

"Why are you helping them destroy the world?" He asked the man calmly.

"Because there is scum like you in it" the man hissed back.

"True, but there is also scum like you in it. I'm talking mainly about just you actually. Why are you willing to die for this?" Balthier responded.

"I will not die. The gods will reward me and the others for our service. We will start a new world, where tyrants no longer rule" the man replied.

"You are a fool. There is no room for you in the God's new utopia. No humes are welcome there, no races of this world are. They will dispose of you as soon as they are able. The real tyrants are the occuria, most things that happened in this world were because of them." Balthier countered.

The man seemed to be loosing his nerve.

"No they p..promised me…" the man stuttered.

"They have lied before. Trust me I know first hand. Help us, and maybe you will live to see the end of this day." Balthier responded.

The man nodded and started walking east. Balthier leaned in and whispered to Fara "I did not expect it to be that easy."

"I think you might be more persuasive then you realize, Balthier." Fara muttered back.

"Is that why you let me kiss you last night" He murmured silkily in her ear. She flushed a little, but replied "I thought I was the one that kissed you."

Balthier just raised an eyebrow at her.

"What are you two whispering about?" Penelo called from behind them.

"Nothing for you to worry about" Balthier called back.

They walked in silence for a while. All thinking their own thoughts of what was to come. The day was beautiful and sunny, it set the wrong mood as it lit the forest around them with a halo like glow.

"Are we almost there?" Vaan asked their captive.

The man nodded and pointed over a nearby hill.

"It's just over there" he said.

Fran motioned for them to stop and then ran ahead. She crept up the hill and peered over it. She turned around and nodded, indicating that they were in the right spot. Vaan took his sword point off the man, who was trembling visibly.

"Run" Vaan told the man. He took off towards Fran, but Fara grabbed him quickly and turned him around.

"The other way" Fara chided.

The man nodded vigorously and took off in the other direction.

"And their runs a coward" Balthier mused.

"And to think, not too long ago he spat at your feet" Fara responded, smiling slightly.

"Good thing you were there to straighten him out for me eh?" Balthier replied.

They all moved up to where Fran stood, peering over the small hill. The sight made Fara's stomach drop. Below her lay a valley, that under any other circumstances would be breathtakingly beautiful. Unfortunately right now it was crawling with all sorts of things that Fara did not want to see. There were at least a hundred soldiers. In the middle she saw her Father and Brant standing directing people. Right next to them was an enormous black slab. It seemed to be made out of the same material that the temple north of the Necrohol of Nabudis. The glossy black slab stood out in the green lush valley and around the rim it looked like there was a sort of writing. It was much to far away for anyone to make out though.

Her eyes then returned to her father. Part of her refused to think about the fact that it was actually him. She had laid him to rest long ago in her mind, and this man was so different from the man she had known.

Balthier saw where her eyes were looking and put his hand on hers gently. She smiled at him gratefully.

"So, what's the plan?" Vaan asked, looking around at the others.

"We need to cause confusion. Make them think there's more of us then there actually are." Fara offered.

"We will all come in from different sides. Act quickly and decisively. Fight as if their are five of you" Fran continued.

"We must take out as many of the peons as we can before the real big guns show up" Balthier said.

They all looked at each other.

"We spread out around them. In fifteen minutes we start. Watch for me and when I strike, you do too." Fara ordered.

"Very well" Balthier replied.

Fara wanted to say goodbye, just in case. Tell them just how much they had come to mean to her. They were her family and they deserved to know that. But she could not do it. She could not say those things because that would mean that she had given up hope. So instead, she smiled at them and nodded. She was about to take off when Balthier grabbed her roughly by the shoulder. He kissed her roughly and whispered

"What you were going to run away without saying goodbye?"

"It's about time" Penelo said looking between the two of them.

"Ya, we were placing bets, but you both waited longer then any of us thought. Even Fran was off" Vaan added smiling at them.

Balthier shot an accusatory look at Fran who only smiled slightly then looked away. Fara grabbed Balthier by his shirt and kissed him again quickly.

"Good luck" she said and then ran off around the perimeter. She looked back once at Balthier. His face watching hers. His face mirrored very closely the one that she had seen all those years ago when she had left him. But this time would be different, she assured herself.

It took her about ten minutes to get all the way around the men. There were so many of them. She stood their waiting to attack. It was by far the longest five minutes of her life, watching them prepare. Watching her father prepare. He said that he was sabotaging the Peaks from the inside, but it certainly did not look that way. But why would he have told her where to go if he did not want her to succeed? She shook away these thoughts. Now was not the time for over thinking. It was simply the time for action.

Eventually the fifteen minutes were up. Fara took a steadying breath, walked out of the brush calmly and killed the first man she came upon. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the others attack as well. The soldiers knew they were under attack now and came after her. It had begun.


	21. Chapter 21

Fara had already taken down ten men. But she was tiring. These men were not shabby fighters and it was through strength of will and years of practice that she was able to dispatch of them at all. She hoped that the others were still fighting too. Another one came at her from her left side. She took one sword and blocked the attack and smashed the hilt of her other sword onto his head. He dropped like a fly.

She did not know much more of this she could take, but at that instant it got much worse. She saw Brant lift up a Glyph and call forth Famfrit. The beast sprang out, clutching its chain and large jar. It was huge and terrifying. He was about to call forth another one when Fara saw her father push Brant off balance. He then threw a punch which hit Brant square on the chin.

Fara smiled slightly at the scene. So he was on their side at least that was a positive. This gave her a second wind. She fought with renewed strength and energy. Her immediate area was clear of soldiers, but she saw Famfrit advancing towards Penelo, who was focusing on casting a Fire spell on the soldiers surrounding her. Fara picked up a sword of a nearby fallen soldier and threw it at the advancing beast. It hit him in the back of the head, which did little damage, but was sufficient in taking his attention off of Penelo.

Fara charged at him. She fought hard, but she was tired and knew she could not hold the beast off for long. She saw her father still struggling with Brant still, and knew she could not give up. She watched Famfrit closely as she fought him, trying to figure out a pattern. Finally it clicked, when he raised his right arm and swung his chain, his throat was exposed. Fara watched and dodged the blows from the giant fists, jumping gracefully over one, only to duck instantly to dodge the other. Eventually, Famfrit raised his right arm and begun to swing the chain. She knew she only had a few seconds; she leaped with all her strength and dug both swords into the flesh at the beast's neck. The esper disappeared in an instant. She fell back to ground and landed on her feet.

She took this break to look around. The others were doing fairly well. Fran and Vaan were still fighting hard a group of soldiers around them, and Penelo and Balthier had rushed to their aid. Fara turned her gaze to her father and Brant.

Fara felt the ground rush up at her. She was on her knees. Her father lay on the ground, a knife in his stomach and a pool of blood surrounding him. Brant was calling Esper after Esper. Belias rose up, then exodus, then one Fara did not recognize. They kept coming.

Fara felt a hand on her elbow pulling her up forcefully.

"Fara get up" Balthier called to her. He sounded very far away. He grabbed her and lifted her up. She realized he was carrying her in his arms, away from the espers. She got her sense back and said "Balthier no, we can not give up now." She struggled in his arms and he dropped her on her feet, but kept hold of her shoulders. She tried to turn out of his grasp, but he held on tightly.

"Fara, we have to regroup. Running in there without any sort of sense will only get you killed" Balthier pleaded with her. She stopped trying to get out of his grasp and turned back to him. She felt the tears overflow from her eyes as she looked into his. He reached a hand up and softly wiped them away.

"Now is not the time Fara" Balthier said to her softly. He kissed her on the lips quickly and took her hand. He led her back to the others.

By the time they got there Fara had regained her composure and was ready to do whatever it took to stop the peaks and Brant.

"We do not need to destroy all the espers. All we have to do is destroy the stone" Fara said to the others.

"I haven't seen any stone yet" Penelo replied to Fara looking at everyone.

"I think that might be it" Balthier said pointing back to the table where Brant stood. Brant was holding a dark green stone that had a faint glow to it. The occuria had appeared and given it to him. Each occuria took the stone and held it for a second; the glow became stronger as they did. Eventually all the occuria had touched it and handed it back to Brant. They rose about fifty feet into the air, above the table. They were chanting something that Fara could not make out.

"Ignore the Espers, destroy the stone" Fran said with a tone of finality, and she ran off.

They all charged into the fray. Blows were coming at them from all sides. Fara counted the Espers as she ran. There were twenty two right now. Only the last two and it would be too late. Fara sprinted towards the table. At that moment Brant looked up and saw the five of them charging at him. His face looked afraid, and he dropped one of the glyphs. Fara could see him cursing under his breath as he bent down to pick it up. He straightened up and commanded the espers to come after them. Fara kept running she slid under an esper just as it landed, blocking off the path of both Vaan and Penelo. Vaan yelled for them to keep running.

Fara was only ten feet from Brant now. He bent over and grasped the knife sticking out of her father's stomach. He yanked it out and faced her with a manic grin on his face. Fara felt anger boiling in her stomach. She let out an angry yell and tackled him. He seemed surprised, probably expecting her to take out her swords and face him.

The rage she felt inside her though had blocked out almost all of her rational thought. She punched him once, and tried a second time, but he grabbed her hand and flipped over. He forced both of her hands above her head and she kneed him in the groin. He let out a strangled yell and she pushed him off of her.

He reached a grabbed another glyph, letting out another Esper. Zodiark roared to life above Fara. She ignored it though and went again for Brant. This time, she did pull out her swords and swung them at him with all her might. He leaped out of the way just in time.

At this point she realized all the others were engaged in battle with at least one esper, sometimes more. It was up to her to destroy the stone. She took one last swing at Brant and turned to the table. She grasped the stone and was about to strike it against the table when she felt an enormous pain in her left arm. She looked at saw the knife stuck into her bicep. She gritted her teeth and took the stone in her other hand. Brant took her by the shoulder and wrenched her back. She landed on her left side and yelled out in pain. She had hit her head hard on landing and her vision had grown a little fuzzy. She was trying to desperately to clear her head when Brant grasped the knife and pulled it out. That pain brought her sense back quickly.

She saw Brant raise the knife and bring it down, trying to stick it in her chest. She caught his hands in hers with the knife just inches from her skin.

"It really is a pity" Brant whispered to her "You should have just come upstairs with me. I would have talked you into joining us and maybe you wouldn't be in the situation. I would have talked to you, among other things." He smirked at her with those words.

"You're insane" Fara replied, venom filling her voice.

Brant opened his mouth to say something else, but the words caught in his throat. His eyes grew wide and he toppled off of her. Fara took a deep breath and sat up. Balthier stood with his gun raised thirty feet from her. She smiled at him, and then called out.

"Stop looking over here and pay attention to your own fight."

He nodded to her slightly and turned back to the esper that was currently circling him. Fara quickly stood up and looked over at the table. One of the soldiers was currently calling the last esper. It was one of the espers of light, and it flew out of the glyph and overhead. Fara cried out. The green stone had begun to glow even brighter. She ran and stabbed the solder through the chest. He fell to the ground and lay still. She then ran to the table. The stone had begun to vibrate and it floated a few inches off of the table. Around her, the espers were beginning to change. Parts of them were disappearing and turning into a glittering black dust.

The dust was floating up to where the Occuria were and solidifying into something very large and very terrifying around them. The others had stopped fighting when the espers had and were staring with open mouths. Fara could not let this happen. She ran for the table, she saw all the remaining soldiers coming for her. An arrow zipped by her head, but she kept running.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw her friends going after the soldiers, trying to stop them from stopping her. She was almost to the table now, its jet black stone gleaming in the light. She reached out to the stone and grasped it, feeling the power running through it. Her hand felt like it was on fire, but she did not let go. With all the strength she had left in her she slammed the stone against the table.

It exploded into a million pieces. Above her, the combining had stopped and the pieces of the individual espers were returning. What surprised her most however was the occuria had begun to disappear. It looked as if they were made of sand, and a strong wind was carrying them away. It was only a few seconds before they were gone. That was it? Fara thought to herself. The death of the Gods looked like nothing more then dust on a breeze.

The espers were now fully returned to themselves. For some reason Fara had expected it to be over. The stone was destroyed, the world was saved, but they were not. They still had all of the espers and about twenty extremely pissed off soldiers to contend with. With a sinking heart Fara realized they would not make it out of here alive. But at least they had succeeded with their task. She rushed over to Balthier who was currently trying to fight both Chaos and Zalera. It was all he could do to not be destroyed by them.

Just when Fara had lost all hope, she heard a rumbling coming from the west. She looked up to the sky and saw twenty airships coming at them. Not only that, but out of the forest hundreds of Dalmascan soldiers were running at them. Basch had reached them in time.

Fara let out a laugh and knew they would be okay. The espers turned their attention to the airships and soldiers and left the others to themselves. They regrouped and smiled at each other. Every person had at least one injury, but they were all still alive.

At that moment, Basch rushed over to them.

"Well done" he said to them.

"You too," Vaan replied, "I don't know how much longer we could have held out."

"It was very good timing" Fara continued.

Basch smiled and replied "I think you all have earned your rest, we will be able to take it from here. Ashe is waiting anxiously on that airship." He pointed to a smaller airship that had landed about fifty feet away from them.

"Well, I think that was pretty good for one days work" Balthier said, and they began to walk towards the airship.

As Fara walked she looked around and saw that almost all of the espers had been defeated. A few stragglers were still fighting, but it would not be long before they were captured too. Balthier came up beside her and studied her arm. It was still bleeding a lot and he looked a little worried.

"I'll be fine" she assured him.

He looked at her with one eyebrow raised and she just laughed. He was just as beat up as her, maybe worse. He had a wound on his leg that was causing him to limp and he had a few cuts on his stomach. She took his arm and put it around her shoulder, allowing him to put some of his weight on her unhurt shoulder. He smiled at her ruefully and nodded his thanks.


	22. Chapter 22

They arrived at the ship and Ashe ran out to greet them, along with Al-Cid and Larsa. They all got onto the ship and returned to Rabanastre. On the ship medics helped to treat and dress all of their wounds and by the time they arrived, everyone was feeling much better.

Ashe instructed them to go wash and change, and meet her in the throne room. Fara gratefully listened to the queen. She was covered in blood and dirt, and wanted nothing more then to get herself clean. After she was done, she walked out back into her room, the same one she had when she had been staying here before. Balthier was sitting on her bed, he looked up when she came out.

She smiled at him and sat next to him.

"So, now that we are no longer on the brink of death, have your feelings for me changed at all?" Balthier said lightly, though Fara could hear a hint of nervousness on his voice.

"Oh yes" she replied seriously, "I honestly did not think I would make it through today. If I had known that there was to be some sort of real commitment, well I wouldn't have started a thing that much I can promise you."

Balthier knew that she was kidding, but he played along anyway.

"Well, I can see when I am no longer wanted" he said, but Fara interrupted him before he could finish. She leaned over and kissed him quickly on the lips. She started to get up to go and meet up with the others in the throne room. He quickly pulled her back down and kissed her much deeper. He leaned over her and guided her back down onto the bed. One hand was lightly massaging her stomach and the other was on the back of her head.

They heard a throat clearing behind them and they jumped apart. Basch was leaning against the doorframe an amused look on his face.

"I had heard something like this was going on, but lucky me I get to see it with my own eyes" Basch said amused.

Fara smiled apologetically at him and he continued "we are waiting for you two down in the throne room."

The three of them walked down to the throne room together. When they got there they saw everyone else waiting for them.

Al-Cid walked up to Fara and linked his arm with hers.

"You look exquisite my darling" he said to her smiling. She was about to pull away when Basch came up and led Al-Cid away. Fara heard Basch say "You do not want to be doing that" quietly to the confused man. She looked at Balthier and saw him staring at Al-Cid with a murderous glint in his eye. She took his hand in hers and smiled at him reassuringly.

Al-Cid returned to his spot to the left of Ashe's throne. Larsa was standing on the other side. They all lined up in front of the rulers and stood waiting.

"You have fought bravely, and because of your service Ivalice is saved" Ashe's voice rang out in the silent chamber.

Larsa spoke next, "Because of this we are forever grateful and in all of your debts."

"If there is anything, any of our empires can do for you, all you must do is say it, and we will grant it" Al-Cid finished. He looked at Fara as he said this and winked. She rolled her eyes at him, but smiled a little to take the sting off.

Ashe smiled at all of them broadly.

"Now that the official work is done, let us relax. You have earned it" Ashe said, stepping of her throne.

They all stayed in Rabanastre for a while. Feasting and sleeping and laughing. Al-Cid and Larsa left first, they had to go back to their own kingdoms. Vaan and Penelo left soon after. They left on their ship to do more "Sky pirating" as Vaan had explained. But they had promised to keep and touch and visit whenever they were able. Basch alternated between staying with Larsa and Ashe, carrying messages between them.

All that left was Fara, Fran and Balthier. Fara did not know what she was going to do now. She had finally figured out the fate that had befallen her parents, and though she was still heartsick sometimes when she thought about it, she was starting to move one. She was ready to explore the world again, she missed the open road before her and she had a lot more life in her before she was ready to settle down.

The only problem with that was Balthier. She knew the only reason that he and Fran had not already taken off on the Strahl was because he was waiting for Fara to decide what she was going to do. She did not want to admit that most of her just wanted to stay with him. She was never one to be dependent on another, but that was exactly how it was with Balthier. She was with him almost all the time, and when she was not she was usually thinking about him. But she was not sure if she was ready for any sort of commitment.

She had finally decided what she was going to do. Balthier was standing out in one of the Gardens. He was cleaning and working on his gun.

"Balthier" Fara called out.

He turned to her and smirked. He met her halfway and kissed her. His hand worked his way around her waist and he left it there.

"Balthier, I'm going to go travel again" Fara said, she did not know how to say it lightly, so she just spat it out. The words tasted vile on her tongue. She still was not sure with her decision, but she knew she would never really be able to decide. She simply had to plunge in headfirst.

Balthier seemed frozen, a fire in his eyes that Fara had never seen before.

"Fara. I let you walk away once, I will not let you do it again" Balthier said, his tone flat.

"Balthier you can not tell me what to do. You are not my father" Fara replied, she wanted to be angry at him, but she just could not. She kept seeing him as he had been, when she had left all those years ago and she just felt sick.

"Come with us instead. Fran and I. You will get your travel in, and I will be able to keep an eye on you" his voice still sounded strange, but their was a hint of hope in it.

"Would Fran be okay with that? I thought it was always just a sky pirate and his partner." Fara questioned. She thought about it, and realized that would be the best of both worlds. No need to settle down yet, but also no need to leave Balthier.

"I do believe Fran has taken a liking to you. It must be your undeniable charm" Balthier replied dryly, stroking one of her cheeks. "As for a sky pirate and his partner, I do believe the Strahl has more then enough room. Besides if we get sick of you we can just dump you at any skyport."

Fara smiled.

"Alright" she replied.

"Yes?" Balthier asked, breaking into a real smile, something he did not often do.

"Yes." Fara repeated.

Balthier lifted her up in his arms and kissed her passionately.

"We will leave at once then. I have grown anxious staying in one place for so long." Balthier said.

Balthier went and got Fran. Fara went and informed Ashe of their plans. Ashe was sad, but knew that it was time for them to go. Fara said goodbye to the Queen, thinking about how strange it was that she was friends with a Queen at all. Balthier and Fran came and also bid Ashe farewell.

They all went to the Strahl and got ready for departure. Somehow, Fara knew that this was just the beginning of a long and exciting adventure. And she would always be content with Balthier at her side. They flew off into the sky together. She knew the sky held many more secrets for them to uncover, and it held all the freedom that she needed.

The End


End file.
